Mice Carrying Human Protein Eat More but Weigh Less

A protein that lets mice eat more but weigh less could prove the magic ingredient for diet drugs of the future, British researchers report in today’s issue of the journal Nature. Scientists from SmithKline Beecham and the University of Cambridge have created mice with a human protein known as uncoupling protein 3, or UCP3, that increases their metabolism.

In what is every dieter’s dream, the mice were able to eat more than normal mice but still weigh less. “Extra UCP3 increases metabolic rate. The effect it has is to increase fat combustion, so the animals are burning more fat,” said Dr John Clapham, of SmithKline Beecham. “They eat more because they have a higher metabolic rate but it is true they eat more and weigh less.”

--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II