homehome Home chatchat Notifications


The body's most important biological clocks are actually in sync

The body ticks with various rhythms and having them in sync seems to be fundamentally important.

Tibi Puiu
August 14, 2019 @ 6:41 pm

share Share

Credit: Pixabay.

Credit: Pixabay.

Both the circadian clock, which regulates our sleep/wake rhythm, and the cell cycle, which regulates the growth, life, and death of cells in our body, are in sync. The synchronized interaction between the two most important “clocks” in the body might play a physiological role, a new study found.

The clocks of life

Researchers at EPFL’s Institute of Bioengineering in Switzerland developed a new mathematical model that analyzes the coupling of the two clocks by looking at time-lapse movies of thousands of single cells from mice and humans.

Using this model, the Swiss researchers were able to measure and predict phase shifts when the two clocks were synced in a 1:1 and 1:2 pattern.

Finally, the research team also modeled the clocks in a randomized way (stochastically) in order to better capture what happens in real cells.

The fact that the circadian-cell cycle synchronization was found to be common across different species, including humans, suggests there’s a fundamental biological mechanism behind it.

Although this wasn’t the object of the study, the findings may mean that the two clocks depend on each other. So, for a shift worker whose circadian clock is all messed up, this might have effects on the lifecycle of their cells. Likewise, the inner workings of a person’s cells might cause shifts in the circadian rhythm, resulting in poor sleep patterns. Perhaps a new study might investigate this relationship closer.

“This interaction might play a physiological role,” says Felix Naef, a researcher at EPFL and lead author of the new study. “It can explain why different body tissues have their clocks set at slightly different times, a bit like world time zone wall clocks in an airport.”

The findings appeared in the journal Nature Physics.

share Share

These researchers counted the trees in China using lasers

The answer is 142 billion. Plus or minus a few, of course.

New Diagnostic Breakthrough Identifies Bacteria With Almost 100% Precision in Hours, Not Days

A new method identifies deadly pathogens with nearly perfect accuracy in just three hours.

This Tamagotchi Vape Dies If You Don’t Keep Puffing

Yes. You read that correctly. The Stupid Hackathon is an event like no other.

Wild Chimps Build Flexible Tools with Impressive Engineering Skills

Chimpanzees select and engineer tools with surprising mechanical precision to extract termites.

Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a 3,600-Year-Old pharaoh. But we have no idea who he is

An ancient royal tomb deep beneath the Egyptian desert reveals more questions than answers.

Researchers create a new type of "time crystal" inside a diamond

“It’s an entirely new phase of matter.”

Strong Arguments Matter More Than Grammar in English Essays as a Second Language

Grammar takes a backseat to argumentation, a new study from Japan suggests.

A New Study Reveals AI Is Hiding Its True Intent and It's Getting Better At It

The more you try to get AI to talk about what it's doing, the sneakier it gets.

Cat Owners Wanted for Science: Help Crack the Genetic Code of Felines

Cats are beloved family members in tens of millions of households, but we know surprisingly little about their genes.

The World's Smallest Microcontroller Could Reshape the Future of Wearable Tech and Medicine

This speck-sized chip could be incorporated in anything from smart pills to environmental sensors.