--- title: This New Drug Turns 'Bad' White Fat Into 'Good' Brown Fat description: Scientists claim they have found an experimental drug that turns “bad” white-fat cells into “good” brown ones. canonical: https://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-09T08:13:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:00:24.447Z article:section: Health og:title: New Drug Turns 'Bad' White Fat Into 'Good' Brown Fat og:description: Researchers found the drug caused weight loss in obese mice. og:url: https://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Drug Turns 'Bad' White Fat Into 'Good' Brown Fat twitter:description: Researchers found the drug caused weight loss in obese mice. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This New Drug Turns 'Bad' White Fat Into 'Good' Brown Fat > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=ff1ae460-c7f6-47ae-938c-13bd7b311a85&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Mar 9, 2015 8:13 AM UTC by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Mar 9, 2015 8:13 AM UTC Scientists claim they have found an [experimental](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150307095940.htm) drug that turns “bad” white fat cells into “good” brown ones. Known as GC-1, the drug speeds up metabolism, or the burning off of fat cells, reports Science Daily. Researchers found it caused weight loss in fat mice. “GC-1 dramatically increases the metabolic rate, essentially converting white fat, which stores excess calories and is associated with obesity and metabolic disease, into a fat like calorie-burning brown fat,” said study author Kevin Phillips of the Houston Methodist Research Institute. Until recently, scientists thought only animals and human infants had these energy-burning “good” [brown-fat](http://www.webmd.com/diet/20141022/brown-fat-weight-loss) cells. “It is now clear that human adults do have brown fat, but appear to lose its calorie-burning activity over time,” Phillips added. He calls white fat a “metabolic villain” when you have too much of it, whereas people with more brown fat have a reduced risk of obesity and diabetes. GC-1 works by activating receptors for the thyroid hormone, which help regulate how your body turns food into energy. Phillips’ team tested the drug on hundreds of mice who were genetically obese or who had diet-induced obesity. They found genetically obese mice lost weight and nearly 50% of their fat mass in two weeks. Diet-induced obese mice also showed improvements. The drug was also tested on white fat cells grown in a lab, and researchers say they found evidence that the drug turned white fat into the brown variety. Phillips hopes the drug, which has not yet been tested on humans, has the potential to treat obesity and metabolic disease. The results of the study will be presented at the Endocrine Society’s 97th annual meeting in San Diego on Friday. \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150307095940.htm)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/"},"headline":"This New Drug Turns 'Bad' White Fat Into 'Good' Brown Fat","datePublished":"2015-03-09T08:13:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:00:24.447Z","description":"GC-1 could have the potential to treat obesity and metabolic disease","url":"https://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/","keywords":["Research","study","Science topic","Obesity","Weight loss","Mice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/","name":"This New Drug Turns 'Bad' White Fat Into 'Good' Brown Fat"}}]}] ```