7 Healthcast: Diet Discovery

The discovery was actually made by cancer researchers, who were testing drugs to target the blood supply of tumors. They found the same kind of targeting could work on fat. Their testing on mice exceeded everybody's expectations.

Dr. Wadih Arap, Anderson Cancer Center
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even a mouse scientist, to see the potential of a new weight loss drug."

The success of Dr. Wadih Arap's team at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is significant, even though so far the results have only been in mice.

In their laboratory the scientists created a drug that hones in on fat tissue and cutting off the blood supply, so the fat withers away.

The scientists gave mice a high-fat diet that caused them to almost double their body weight. Then, half the mice got the new drug. Both groups continued to eat identical diets.

Dr. Wadih Arap, Anderson Cancer Center
"What we observed was quite striking. The mice that got treated, they lost weight and over a period of a month, they were again looking lean and happy and moving about the cage."

In every way that the scientists could measure, the mice that lost weight were healthy, free of side effects.

Dr. Wadih Arap, Anderson Cancer Center
"So, we were happy about that, of course mice can't pick up the phone and complain that they have a headache."

That's why much more testing is needed. The next step is testing this drug in baboons. If the new weight-loss drug continues to work well, the first human trials could start within two years. And there are plenty of companies willing to back the research.