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viral liposuction

 safe, almost painless, and permanent
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(+2, -3) 		  [vote for,
against]

Make a virus that kills only white fat cells, and can't survive long.
—Voice, Sep 30 2008

Wikipedia: Virotherapy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virotherapy
Experimental; currently used to fight cancer. [jutta, Oct 01 2008]

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       sorry, "viral fat removal" doesn't have quite the same ring.
—Voice, Oct 01 2008
   

       when the fat cell died, what would happen to the fat inside it?
—bungston, Oct 01 2008
   

       I guess the virus eats the fat cells, and then comes out the rear end.
—Bukkakinator, Oct 01 2008
   

       Interesting idea. Physiologically, I'm not sure what would happen. Normally, when you gain weight, most of it is due to fat cells swelling, not becoming more numerous. So, if you kill some of them off, you're not quite reversing the normal fattening process.   

       Might work, though. Like bung, I have concerns about what happens to the fats released. If you kill lots of cells at once, you'll have a huge load of lipid released into the bloodstream at once, which might be a problem: the body has no way to excrete it easily. If you kill the cells gradually, then the slow trickle of released fat is likely to be taken up by the remaining fat cells, or wind up somewhere else in the body.
—MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 01 2008
   

       Sure the extra fat would be re-absorbed, but each fat cell can only get so big. Pretty soon the body would become incapable of storing more fat.
—Voice, Oct 01 2008
   

       ''As we learn more about the genesis of brown fat cells and the genes governing them, we may be able to target those genes with drugs or other agents to create powerful tools to fight obesity,'' ~ Dr. C. Ronald Kahn.   

       Brown fat burns the bodies fat reserves to create heat. They are largely absent from the adult human. The above quote is from a group that are trying to turn the brown fat cells back on, chemically, or with other agents. Viruses, and bacteria, can be used to deliver to target areas. Not a bad thought, but you may find some resistance, most notably from your own body.   

       So that leaves necrotising fasciitis (to kill the cells) + HIV (to mask the signals for the immuno system) = certain death. Perhaps the brand name can be Mortephin?
—4whom, Oct 01 2008
   

       There may also be a problem with distribution. What if all the released fat comes from your left butt cheek?
—phoenix, Oct 01 2008
   


 

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