Chewing the brown fat at Joslin, Dana Farber

Bruce Spiegelman

The Globe takes a look at two research projects on Mission Hill studying the calorie-burning properties of brown fat. Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center and the Dana Farber Cancer Center are working on separate projects aimed at using the fat, usually found only in infants, to fight obesity. 

All the work, outside scientists said, is likely to spur pharmaceutical companies to look at ways to trigger brown fat – whether it is a drug that can promote brown fat growth or activity, or taking cells, turning them into brown fat in a dish, and transplanting it back into people.

Mass High Tech talked to Harvard Medical School professor/Dana Farber researcher Bruce Spiegelman last September.

“I believe in the idea. It’s an idea that could form the flagship of a new company. I’m positive about that. I’m in discussion with a number of VCs and if the right pieces fall into play, I’m interested,” [Spiegelman] said.

The market for anti-obesity treatments rose from $800 million in 2000 to a predicted $3 billion in 2008, according to the London-based market research firm Datamonitor Ltd. Obesity has been linked to myriad diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

Posted by Brendan Lynch

Tags: Brice Spiegelman, brown fat, Dana Farber Cancer Center, Joslin Diabetes Center

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 10:52 am and is filed under Education & Training, Life Sciences, Massachusetts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.