FIVE RECENT RESEARCHES IN THIS FIELD
1. LONGDAYSIN(READ MORE)
16th Dec, 2010Longsdayin – it can change biological clock:
A compound named longdaysin can be used to control the biological clock, new research shows.
Researchers were able to lengthen the biological clock of larval zebra fish over ten hours by manipulating levels of longdaysin. These new findings could help lead to better management of sleeping disorders, jet lag and other biological clock related problems.
The article below offers more details about longdaysin’s effect on the biological clock and a new screening technique used.
A compound named longdaysin can be used to control the biological clock, new research shows.
Researchers were able to lengthen the biological clock of larval zebra fish over ten hours by manipulating levels of longdaysin. These new findings could help lead to better management of sleeping disorders, jet lag and other biological clock related problems.
The article below offers more details about longdaysin’s effect on the biological clock and a new screening technique used.
2. CIRCADIAN RHYTHM OF HUMAN RBC (READ MORE)
31st Jan 2011, Circadian clocks in human red blood cells
Circadian clock controls the rhythm of life within the activities of the past, people have considered it a "drive gear" is a gene. The British researchers in the new issue of "Nature" magazine reported that they found a mechanism independent of the circadian clock genes, and metabolic mechanisms that constitute the biological clock of the "second gear."
Cambridge University researchers reported that for the first time that human red blood cells also exist in the biological clock. And other cells with DNA and other genetic material is different from red blood cells is not DNA, so it does not, as previously thought, as, according to the signal to adjust gene activity rhythm.Researchers probe found that red blood cells called peroxiredoxin antioxidant protein content of 24 hours there will be cyclical ups and downs, indicating that there is another clock mechanism at work.
University of Edinburgh researchers and other institutions in the same period "Nature" magazine published another research report that they found in the algae similar phenomenon. Although the algae cells have DNA, genetic material, but in the dark in their DNA as the biological clock is not the "drive gear" and turning. The researchers also detected in the dark to the algae cells with an antioxidant protein content of the phenomenon of cyclical ups and downs.
These two studies show, in addition to genes, is also a driver to run the clock "second gear." Because of this antioxidant protein in the cell plays an important role in
metabolism, the researchers believe that the "second gear" driving force should come from the metabolic machinery itself.
University of Edinburgh, said Professor Andrew Miller, seaweed is a very ancient organisms, so the clock with the metabolic mechanism may have existed billions of years, and in the evolution of humans and other living body in a prevalentphenomenon. This finding also shows that the biological clock is more sophisticated than people previously known, more complex and require more in-depth study.
Previous studies have found that if the clock because of flying, night work and other reasons to be disturbed, and often lead to metabolic disorders and discomfort and may even lead to diabetes and other diseases, the progress of this study will contribute to further explore relevant areas.
3. BABIES' BIOLOGICAL CLOCK (READ MORE)
Babies’ biological clocks dramatically affected by birth light cycle by David Salisbury | Posted on Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 — 7:00 AM
The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic and persistent effect on how their biological clocks function.
That is the conclusion of a new study published online on Dec. 5 by the journal Nature Neuroscience. The experiment provides the first evidence for seasonal imprinting of biological clocks in mammals and was conducted by Professor of Biological Sciences Douglas McMahon, graduate student Chris Ciarleglio, post-doctoral fellow Karen Gamble and two undergraduate students at Vanderbilt University
The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic and persistent effect on how their biological clocks function.
That is the conclusion of a new study published online on Dec. 5 by the journal Nature Neuroscience. The experiment provides the first evidence for seasonal imprinting of biological clocks in mammals and was conducted by Professor of Biological Sciences Douglas McMahon, graduate student Chris Ciarleglio, post-doctoral fellow Karen Gamble and two undergraduate students at Vanderbilt University
4. Ancient biological clock keeps all living things on time
Thu, 01/27/2011 - 02:52 – NLNNot only does the research provide important insight into health-related problems linked to individuals with disrupted clocks – such as pilots and shift workers – it also indicates that the 24-hour circadian clock found in human cells is the same as that found in algae and dates back millions of years to early life on Earth.
Two new studies out today in the journal Nature from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh give insight into the circadian clock which controls patterns of daily and seasonal activity, from sleep cycles to butterfly migrations to flower opening.
One study, from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Metabolic Science, has for the first time identified 24-hour rhythms in red blood cells. This is significant because circadian rhythms have always been assumed to be linked to DNA and gene activity, but – unlike most of the other cells in the body – red blood cells do not have DNA.
Akhilesh Reddy, from the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study, said: "We know that clocks exist in all our cells; they're hard-wired into the cell. Imagine what we'd be like without a clock to guide us through our days. The cell would be in the same position if it didn't have a clock to coordinate its daily activities.
For the study, the scientists, funded by the Wellcome Trust, incubated purified red blood cells from healthy volunteers in the dark and at body temperature, and sampled them at regular intervals for several days. They then examined the levels of biochemical markers – proteins called peroxiredoxins – that are produced in high levels in blood and found that they underwent a 24-hour cycle. Peroxiredoxins are found in virtually all known organisms.
A further study, by scientists working together at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge, and the Observatoire Oceanologique in Banyuls, France, found a similar 24-hour cycle in marine algae, indicating that internal body clocks have always been important, even for ancient forms of life.
The researchers in this study found the rhythms by sampling the peroxiredoxins in algae at regular intervals over several days. When the algae were kept in darkness, their DNA was no longer active, but the algae kept their circadian clocks ticking without active genes. Scientists had thought that the circadian clock was driven by gene activity, but both the algae and the red blood cells kept time without it.
Andrew Millar of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the study, said: "This groundbreaking research shows that body clocks are ancient mechanisms that have stayed with us through a billion years of evolution. They must be far more important and sophisticated than we previously realised. More work is needed to determine how and why these clocks developed in people – and most likely all other living things on earth – and what role they play in controlling our bodies."
Two new studies out today in the journal Nature from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh give insight into the circadian clock which controls patterns of daily and seasonal activity, from sleep cycles to butterfly migrations to flower opening.
One study, from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Metabolic Science, has for the first time identified 24-hour rhythms in red blood cells. This is significant because circadian rhythms have always been assumed to be linked to DNA and gene activity, but – unlike most of the other cells in the body – red blood cells do not have DNA.
Akhilesh Reddy, from the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study, said: "We know that clocks exist in all our cells; they're hard-wired into the cell. Imagine what we'd be like without a clock to guide us through our days. The cell would be in the same position if it didn't have a clock to coordinate its daily activities.
For the study, the scientists, funded by the Wellcome Trust, incubated purified red blood cells from healthy volunteers in the dark and at body temperature, and sampled them at regular intervals for several days. They then examined the levels of biochemical markers – proteins called peroxiredoxins – that are produced in high levels in blood and found that they underwent a 24-hour cycle. Peroxiredoxins are found in virtually all known organisms.
A further study, by scientists working together at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge, and the Observatoire Oceanologique in Banyuls, France, found a similar 24-hour cycle in marine algae, indicating that internal body clocks have always been important, even for ancient forms of life.
The researchers in this study found the rhythms by sampling the peroxiredoxins in algae at regular intervals over several days. When the algae were kept in darkness, their DNA was no longer active, but the algae kept their circadian clocks ticking without active genes. Scientists had thought that the circadian clock was driven by gene activity, but both the algae and the red blood cells kept time without it.
Andrew Millar of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the study, said: "This groundbreaking research shows that body clocks are ancient mechanisms that have stayed with us through a billion years of evolution. They must be far more important and sophisticated than we previously realised. More work is needed to determine how and why these clocks developed in people – and most likely all other living things on earth – and what role they play in controlling our bodies."
5. Biological clock research for night shift workers
16/02/2011 Raipur: City’s prestigious Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University’s Bioscience Department has been selected by UGC for a research work on biological clock for the possible disorders among those who work in unusual hours, especially night shifts.
Giving details in this regard, department’s Prof. AK Pati told Bhaskar that the commission had approved a grant of Rs 73 lakh for the research work.
Giving a brief account of the ambitious research, Prof. Pati said that the research was likely to provide pathbreaking conclusions for the patients of cancer apart from the disorders which the people working in nights suffer from.
Pati added that under the project, scientists would study the biological clock of the people working at unusual hours, like those who work in night shifts to find out measures to keep them out from the possible disorders they are likely to suffer.
The researchers will do a practical case study of the workers of Bhilai Steel Plant who usually do night shifts. Apart from this, they will also study the trends of various types of cancers and their possible connection with the disturbance in a person’s biological clock.
Giving details in this regard, department’s Prof. AK Pati told Bhaskar that the commission had approved a grant of Rs 73 lakh for the research work.
Giving a brief account of the ambitious research, Prof. Pati said that the research was likely to provide pathbreaking conclusions for the patients of cancer apart from the disorders which the people working in nights suffer from.
Pati added that under the project, scientists would study the biological clock of the people working at unusual hours, like those who work in night shifts to find out measures to keep them out from the possible disorders they are likely to suffer.
The researchers will do a practical case study of the workers of Bhilai Steel Plant who usually do night shifts. Apart from this, they will also study the trends of various types of cancers and their possible connection with the disturbance in a person’s biological clock.
