Leptin gene injection may combat obesity.(Health)(Brief Article)

A simple injection could be the answer to the problem of obesity. Diabetic rats injected with an adenovirus carrying a gene for the protein leptin lost 26% of their body weight in just two weeks. Scientists found that what normally are fat-storing cells were transformed into fat-burning furnaces.

Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10,1073/phas.0308258100), the researchers said: 'The fat loss was more rapid and more profound than can be induced by caloric restriction.' They hope the results will lead to a quick fix for obesity in humans.

Instead of storing fat, the fat cells in the rats started to burn it …