Longevity science

Researchers were surprised to find that people with Type 2 diabetes who lost a lot of weight didn't lower their risk of heart attacks or strokes. They did have better control of their blood sugar and saw other health benefits.

Autom, a robotic weight loss coach which began as a prototype at MIT, launches via an indiegogo campaign.

Hackers and investors welcome.

The existence of two different types of fat – or adipose tissue – in mammals has long been known: white fat, which stores calories and in excess results in obesity, and brown fat, which burns calories to generate energy and heat. Now scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have confirmed the existence of a third, genetically distinct type of fat called “beige fat,” which they say is a potential therapeutic target for treating obesity.

A 2008 paper out of the Dana-Farber lab of Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, had proposed the existence of a third type of fat cell, and now Spiegelman and his team have become the first to isolate them and determine beige fat’s unique genetic profile. They found that beige fat shares much in common with brown fat. Both have the ability to burn large amounts of calories as they both contain energy-burning organelles called mitochondria, which contain iron and are responsible for the cells’ brown and beige hues.

"The therapeutic potential of both kinds of brown fat cells is clear," the authors say in their study, "as genetic manipulations in mice that create more brown or beige fat have strong anti-obesity and anti-diabetic actions."

However...

The ability to activate brown fat in the body could provide a means to fight obesity and keep the weight off.

Now scientists have discovered a protein that could allow them to do just that.

Myostatin  is a muscle-inhibiting protein. There is evidence that the gene responsible for this protein is involved with the loss of muscle mass that human experience with age.

In a mouse experiment, researchers found that “Mice with the myostatin gene removed grow more muscle." Using this knowledge, scientists have been working on therapies to combat muscle loss.

Here is another confirmation that myostatin is involved in age-related changes in muscle mass and strength via its effect on stem cells...

A team of Swiss researchers has discovered that raising the levels of the hormone erythropoietin (Epo) in the brains of mice resulted in the rodents being more motivated to exercise.

The discovery provides the possibility of developing a pill that can motivate people to want to exercise.