Three Americans have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for their landmark discovery of molecular gene that controls the biological clock, the rhythm that keeps human bodies and minds going.
Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young used fruit flies as organisms to test, isolating genes that can control our daily function and self-sustaining biological clock.
In a development holding much significance for advancing understanding in medical sciences, they detected that the specific gene that was isolated can encode proteins that build up throughout the night and then break down in our bodies during the day.
This discovery has allowed scientists to conclude that biological clocks serve as the basis and basic principles in cells of multi-cellular organisms such as humans.
Jeffrey C. Hall, born in Brooklyn, New York is geneticist and chrono biologist. Michael Rosbash, born in Kansas City, Missouri is a geneticist and a neuroscientist. Michael W. Young, born in Miami, Florida, is a geneticist and chrono biologist.
Scientists and medical researchers have been thrilled at the breakthrough that highlights that sleep is an essential and important part of our days and that sleep can either make or break our bodies.
The circadian rhythm exemplifies that lack of proper sleep and can lead to many problems in human bodies such as diabetes, weakens the immune system, raises risk of heart disease, etc. Sleep can affect our attention span, mood changes, and weight gain.
The discovery shows how important sleep is to human performance and health.
In the age of the digital media, will we be getting more of sleep to make sure that we are able to perform in optimal condition or continue to deprive our bodies of the much-needed break?
