transplanted a fat-burning pathway used by bacteria and plants into mice.

The genetic alterations enabled the animals to convert fat into carbon dioxide and remain lean while eating the equivalent of a fast-food diet.

a new approach to combating the growing obesity problem in humans

it may point to new strategies for borrowing biological functions from bacteria and other species to improve human health.

enzymes from E. coli bacteria into cultured human cells and found that they increased the metabolism of fats in the cells

The mice exhibited no visible side effects, although more detailed studies are necessary to verify that.

important in terms of finding new strategies to target obesity. Previous approaches

focused on stimulating existing natural pathways" for burning fat. The idea of introducing a strategy from another organism that is not present in the body is a novel one