As anticipation builds for the longer days that follow this weekend’s switch to daylight savings time, the moment seemed ideal to turn to one of the nation’s leading circadian-rhythms researchers, UC Santa Cruz’s Carrie Partch.
Scientists have discovered a revolutionary way to put an end to jet lag by uncovering the secret at the tail end of Casein Kinase 1 delta (CK1δ), a protein that regulates our body clock. This breakthrough, achieved by researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School and the University of California, Santa Cruz, offers a new approach to adjusting our circadian rhythms, the natural 24-hour cycles that influence sleep-wake patterns and overall daily functions.
Carrie Partch, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz, is among 26 top scientists chosen by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to be HHMI investigators and receive the support needed to move their research in creative new directions and make groundbreaking discoveries.
New findings point toward a promising target for the development of therapies for sleep disorders, jet lag, and other effects of clock disruption
A team of scientists has reconstituted the circadian clock of cyanobacteria in a test tube, enabling them to study rhythmic interactions of the clock proteins in real time and understand how these interactions enable the clock to exert control over gene expression.
An NIH-funded team has some new clues based on evidence showing how a molecular “switch” wired into the biological clocks of extreme early risers leads them to operate on a daily cycle of about 20 hours instead of a full 24-hour, or circadian cycle.
Original story from NIH Director’s Blog.
