Researchers Take Step Closer To Capturing Benefits Of Weight Loss Surgery In A Pill
Scientists have pinpointed and improved on a protein that when taken by mice helped them lose roughly 20 percent of their body weight.
Los Angeles Times:
Scientists Engineer Proteins That Caused Obese Animals To Lose Weight And Lower Cholesterol
As the U.S. obesity rate has galloped toward 40%, doctors, drug designers and dispirited dieters have all wondered the same thing: What if a pill could deliver the benefits of weight-loss surgery, but without the knife? New research brings that hope a notch closer. Scientists from the biotechnology company Amgen Inc. report they have identified and improved upon a naturally occurring protein that brought about significant changes in obese mice and monkeys, including weight loss and rapid improvements on measures of metabolic and heart health. (Healy, 10/19)