Paul Cohen of the Rockefeller University describes his study of thousands of people, finding that the energy-burning tissue is tied to a lower risk of for several diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Hanging in front of the abdomen like an apron, the depot of visceral fat known as the omentum helps regulate immune responses.

The agency raided one that was using a stem cell-smallpox vaccine combo, and sent a warning to another to obey best practices.

In mice lacking intestinal microbiota, white fat turns brown and obesity is prevented.

Adipogenesis in mice has alternating genetic requirements throughout the animals’ lives.

Obese people are at higher risk for developing cancer, have worse prognoses once diagnosed, and are often resistant to chemotherapy regimens. The question is, Why?

Factors that likely contribute to obesity include disruptions to intercellular signaling, increased inflammation, and changes to the gut microbiome.
 

Scientists know how to turn on these fat-combusting cells. Can these energy burners be used to combat obesity?

Following extreme trauma, patients’ adipose samples have revealed—for the first time in humans—that white fat can be converted into energy-burning brown fat.

The origins of adipocytes have been hotly debated, but a human study supports the idea that the bone marrow takes part. 

Artificially extended days cause mice to gain fat and alter the function of their brown fat, a study shows.

Transplanting energy-burning brown fat can prevent excess weight gain in a mouse model of obesity.

A small study finds that an approved medication increases metabolic rate and the activity of thermogenic brown fat in men.

Adipocytes under the skin help fight infections by producing an antimicrobial agent.

Nobel Prizes awarded; transgenerational effects of mitochondrial mutations; fat-targeted gene knockdown; Ebola updates in Spain and U.S.

The malnourished microbiome; innate immunity and beige fat; tools for stem cell self-renewal; predicting tomorrow’s PIs; MERS update

An innate immune pathway stimulates the activity of heat-producing adipose tissue in mice.

Researchers discover that unlike brown fat cells, white fat cells can directly sense cooling temperatures to switch on genes that control heat production.

Fat cells behave differently in obese individuals, causing inflammation and insulin resitance.