IT'S a couch potato's dream - a pill that can give your body the same benefits of exercise without ever having to break into a sweat.
Australian scientists moved a step closer to making that dream a reality this week after they discovered the inner workings of an enzyme that controls the way our bodies accumulate or burn fat.
A decade ago, researchers at Melbourne's St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research and the CSIRO's division of Health Sciences and Nutrition identified an enzyme that controls how the body's metabolism reacts to food and exercise.
Now the team has unlocked the structure of that enzyme - which opens up the opportunity to develop a drug that could make it possible to become trim, taut and terrific without physical effort.
Scientists have become increasingly concerned the "eat well and exercise regularly" message has failed, with more than one-third of Australians now classified as overweight or obese.
In response, researchers are instead trying to analyse the human body's natural mechanisms to manipulate and improve the way the body works. "Around the world there's enormous research activity in trying to find ways of accelerating the oxidation of fatty acids and losing weight either by direct effects or trying to control appetite," St Vincent's Institute senior research fellow Bruce Kemp told The Australian.
"The enzyme regulates metabolism in response to exercise and also controls how your genes are working to set you up to be fitter. It also shuts off the synthesis of things like fat and cholesterol."
Professor Kemp said the enzyme was constantly present in the body but was not switched on all the time.
"We know there are three components to the enzyme and we are now closer to finding out how these components bind together. Understanding these interactions takes us closer to developing a drug that mimics the way the enzyme affects the metabolism."
Professor Kemp, who will present his findings at a conference in Montreal next month, said the project was not simply about weight loss.
"It's about solving the question of how diet relates to exercise and how both relate to many diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes."
