Removing just a single gene can fool the body into burning more calories.
The removal of a gene could trick the body to burn calories
Experts have found that the removal of the PHD2 gene - which regulates brown fat to keep humans warm in cold temperatures - speeds up the process of metabolism in the human body, enabling the nutrients from food to be converted into energy at a rapid rate.
Scientists found that mice without the PHD2 gene burned 60 per cent more calories than rodents with it even though they ate significantly more food.
Dr. Zoi Michailidou, a researcher at Nottingham Trent University, said: "Brown fat is a special kind of a calorie-burning tissue more active in humans when they are exposed to cold temperatures.
"By removing a protein that lets fat cells sense oxygen, we have been able to show that calorie burning could happen in mice and human cells even when they are not exposed to cold temperatures.
"(Targeting the PHD2 gene) could open up new strategies to sustain weight loss by increasing metabolism and without the need for continuous dieting."