• Question: do we need brown fat?

    Asked by skywalker to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 8 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Hannah Moir

      Hannah Moir answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Brown fat is a dark-coloured adipose tissue which everyone has a small amount of is used for energy and production of heat and metabolism so may be essential to survival and current research is looking to see if it can help prevent obesity but more research is needed. So yes it could be something of interest in the future.

    • Photo: Charlotte Green

      Charlotte Green answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Think Hannah said it all really. To highlight something I addressed in another question, until recently we did not know adults had brown fat. Babies have a lot of it because they need it to stay warm as they don’t shiver and they cant just move to a warmer area or put on another jumper. Therefore brown fat is essential for babies.

      p.s I love you sign in name : SKYWALKER your a legend 🙂

    • Photo: Majid Ahmed

      Majid Ahmed answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      I agree with the other scientists. Brown fat is very important in babies and early childhood for the regulation of body temperature. It has recently been discovered in adults but why it is needed in adulthood is not yet fully understood.

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