Posted
on April 28, 2014
A
time to sleep, a time to awake,
A
time to work, a time to relax,
A
time to eat, a time to refrain from eating...
Your
body knows when it is time to do things like go to sleep, wake up,
and eat, because it has a biological clock! Other animals, too, have
biological clocks – as do plants, fungi and even cyanobacteria!
The
biological clock we associate with daily routines such as sleeping
and eating is called “circadian rhythm.” There are other
“biological clocks” associated with seasonal or yearly rhythms.
We even refer to a biological clock “ticking” when we talk about
adults' ability and desire to have children.
I
couldn't find out why today, of all days, is Biological Clock Day,
but I do think it's a great excuse to learn more about this
intriguing topic!
The
biological clock has three parts.
The
first part is the ability to sense changes in light and temperature;
these cues are used to set the biological clock. As you can guess,
our eyes and nerve endings are used to sense light and temperature.
But it's interesting to note that blind animals that live in dark
cave environments with steady temperatures still have circadian
rhythms. Also, if you deprive people and other animals of light, you
can disrupt their circadian rhythms to some extent, but they will
develop new rhythms in absence of the usual cues.
The
second part of the biological clock is what we can call “clock
genes.” Scientists are trying to understand exactly how they work.
New discoveries in this area will help us to treat sleep disorders
such as narcolepsy, and they may also help us fight cancer, because
clock genes are used in cell production and cell suicide – and
uncontrolled cell production and failure of cells to commit suicide
are basically what defines cancer.
The
third part of the biological clock is the genes that help the
biological clock control the activity of other genes. Brain wave
activity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and many other
biological processes are all coordinated by the biological clock with
the coordinating power of these genes.
Staying
up all night, flying into another time zone, and using special “sun”
lamps are all ways of messing with your biological clock. Jet lag and
seasonal affective disorder (SAD, a problem many people have during
sunless winters) are both examples of problems people experience with
their circadian rhythms. Hopefully we will someday know enough about
clock genes and the genes that help them control our bodily functions
to develop better medicines and treatments of these and other
problems.
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