Somehow I got linked to this paper (free on pubmed) on the role of copper in fat metabolism. I thought that the usual Science News Cycle or people who sell copper bracelets would be all over the results. I was pleased to see that most of the relevant news-y results on google were really cautious and not sensationalist. w

The study was an amazing piece of multidisciplinary science. It had:

• Cell biology: inhibitor studies and biochemical pathway deductions
• Biochemistry: analysis of proteins including expressing and analyzing mutant mutants
• Synthetic organic: development of a fluorescent copper sensor molecule
• Analytical chemistry: validation of the copper sensor with ICP-MS
• Bio-analytical chemistry: fluorescence microscopy and image analysis of cells

That’s all in one paper. Seriously cool. And even though it’s all in mice and should be taken with a grain of salt, it is still worth thinking about micronutrients like copper and how to make sure they are in one’s diet.