A team of scientists have accidentally discovered a drug that lets you eat as much as you want without gaining any weight.
The team at Yale University in the US were actually trying to create a morbidly obese mouse, but instead they managed to create a mouse that eats but doesn't get fat, The Sun reports.
The study published in the journal Science, involved editing out two genes with the aim to make the mice gain weight. However despite eating a high-fat diet for over eight weeks the mice stayed slim.
After noticing the surprising development, the team, led by cardiology professor Anne Eichmann and associate research scientist Feng Zang, decided to investigate into why this has happened.
They discovered that by editing out the two key genes, the fat was blocked from entering the small lymphatic vessels in the gut in those that were given the drug.
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Dr Feng Zhang said: "We made a mouse that eats fat but doesn't get fat.
"Fat is taken up into the body in the gut through lymphatic vessel portals called lacteals... In the mice that we created, the lacteals become 'zippered' and fat particles can no longer penetrate them. The fats are excreted rather than taken up into the circulation system, and the mouse doesn't gain much weight even though it is fed with a high fat diet."
So far experts have only been able to switch off the key genes in rodents, but with further research it could be available for people.
For now, instead of editing our genes they looked at ways they could turn off the receptors, called NRP1 and VEGFR, to trigger the same effect.
Speaking to Wired, Anne said: "We found that such drugs also close the pores of the lymphatic vessels in the gut and inhibit fat uptake. They could be tested in humans for lipid lowering effects."
Professor Alan Mackie from the school of food science at Leeds University, who was not involved in the study, said: "Although the authors don't state this, the implication is that if this did work in humans then you take a pill just before a meal and it closes the gut to lipid uptake."
The authors of the study have recommended that the next step should be to study the impact of the drug on humans but this could take a long time.
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However, it's important to remember that our bodies need a healthy balanced diet in order to function.
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