Nobel prize in medicine winners: Award given to scientists who explained the mysteries of the biological clock
Nobel prize in medicine winners: Award given to scientists who explained the mysteries of the biological clock
The researcher is a reminder of the importance of keeping regular sleep patterns
source The New Indian Express
The 2017 Nobel Prize winners in medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, economics, and literature
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Andrew Griffin @_andrew_griffin
The 2017 Nobel Prize in medicine has been given to three scientists “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm”, or the biological clock. Their work helped illuminate one of the central mysteries of human life: why we need sleep, and how it happens.
Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W Young were given their award for understanding the mysteries of how life tracks time and changes itself according to the movement of the sun.
Circadian rhythms are the ways that the body keeps itself regulated with the passing of the day, and that the process can affect sleep, behaviour, hormone levels, body temperature and metabolism. They show why disturbed sleep – like in the case of jet lag, or people with insomnia – can have terrifying knock-on consequences, like an increased risk of various diseases.
The researchers discovered that all types of life on Earth – from plants to humans – regulate their body clock using the sun, with special technologies inside the body. They showed how the body clock can disrupt the central ways the body works, including things like metabolism, and explained how if it is thrown off it can cause huge problems for people and other parts of life.
The researchers “were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings”, according to the Nobel committee’s citation for the more than $1m (£750m) prize. The discoveries “explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth’s revolutions”, it said.
The work didn’t reveal any tips for regulating our own circadian rhythm or improving sleep, said experts. But it was a reminder of the importance of doing so – and of keeping good sleep hygiene, by ensuring that people maintain good sleep patterns and keep themselves in sync with the sun, they said during the press
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