Without second wave of brown fat, young mice can't live without mama
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 13:01
in Biology & Nature
For all those who have wondered where they'd be without their mothers, a study reported in the February Cell Metabolism puts a whole new spin on the question. Mice whose mothers pass along a mutant copy of a single imprinted gene can't keep themselves warm and die soon after leaving the comfort of the nest. The findings also reveal that the babies require a second round of heat-generating brown fat to survive.