Weight loss chip implanted in arm tells you when to stop eating -
A weight loss chip that could be implanted in a woman’s arm by her GP is being developed by scientists.
The genetic chip would constantly check for fat in the blood and, when someone has eaten too much, release a hormone that sates hunger.
In tests on mice, an early version of the device led to obese creatures eating less fatty food and shedding weight.
Importantly, the gizmo stopped releasing the diet drug when they reached a normal weight.
The Swiss researchers hope that within five to ten years they will have a version the size of a coin that can be slipped under the skin of a slimmer’s arm.
If effective, it would provide an alternative to diet pills, which have to be taken several times a day, as well as to expensive and invasive obesity survey such as gastric banding.
It is also hoped it will be free of major side-effects.
The journal Nature Communications reports that the chip contains two genes that work together keep appetite in check.
The first constantly monitors fat levels in blood. When they get too high, it tells the second to make the appetite suppressant.
The chip’s inventor, Professor Martin Fussenegger said he hopes it could be used to prevent obesity, as well as to treat it.
Chips containing other combinations of genes could be developed to tackle other illnesses.
In Britain, just 34 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women are of a healthy weight.
Being obese can knock up to nine years off a person’s life and raise the risk of a host of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, infertility, depression and some cancers.
A spokesman for the researchers said: ‘Humankind has a weight problem.
‘According to the World Health Organisation, over half the population in many industrialised countries is overweight, one in three people extremely so.
Read more:
A weight loss chip that could be implanted in a woman’s arm by her GP is being developed by scientists.
The genetic chip would constantly check for fat in the blood and, when someone has eaten too much, release a hormone that sates hunger.
In tests on mice, an early version of the device led to obese creatures eating less fatty food and shedding weight.
Importantly, the gizmo stopped releasing the diet drug when they reached a normal weight.
The Swiss researchers hope that within five to ten years they will have a version the size of a coin that can be slipped under the skin of a slimmer’s arm.
If effective, it would provide an alternative to diet pills, which have to be taken several times a day, as well as to expensive and invasive obesity survey such as gastric banding.
It is also hoped it will be free of major side-effects.
The journal Nature Communications reports that the chip contains two genes that work together keep appetite in check.
The first constantly monitors fat levels in blood. When they get too high, it tells the second to make the appetite suppressant.
The chip’s inventor, Professor Martin Fussenegger said he hopes it could be used to prevent obesity, as well as to treat it.
Chips containing other combinations of genes could be developed to tackle other illnesses.
In Britain, just 34 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women are of a healthy weight.
Being obese can knock up to nine years off a person’s life and raise the risk of a host of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, infertility, depression and some cancers.
A spokesman for the researchers said: ‘Humankind has a weight problem.
‘According to the World Health Organisation, over half the population in many industrialised countries is overweight, one in three people extremely so.
Read more:
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