Scientists in the United States have found many very small proteins, called microproteins, that help control how the body stores fat. The discovery was made by researchers at the Salk Institute and shared on August 7, 2025, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This is a significant revelation that could be instrumental in finding new medicines to treat obesity and other health problems linked to it, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and kidney issues. The scientists used a special gene-editing tool called CRISPR to study thousands of genes in fat cells. They discovered that some microproteins control how fat cells grow and how the body stores fat. One of these microproteins was proven to have a direct effect on fat storage. Professor Alan Saghatelian, the lead researcher, said this is a big step forward in obesity research because microproteins have not received much attention in the past.
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