Discovery of fat-burning 'switch' could lead to advances in bone disease treatments

Scientists' discovery of a molecular "switch" that activates an energy-burning pathway in mice has the potential to lead to new treatments for bone disease. The study, published in Nature, sheds new light on brown fat. Unlike white fat, which stores energy, brown fat cells burn calories, producing heat as a byproduct. For years, it was believed this process relied on a single pathway. More recently, researchers discovered a parallel pathway, but how it became activated had remained a mystery.