BIOLOGICAL CLOCK – WHAT & HOW ?
FUTURE CAMPUS SCHOOL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all these individuals for mentoring and supporting me
in completing this project.
My teacher, Mrs. Joiti Roy for providing me with invaluable insights and direction.
Our esteemed principal, Mr. Parth Pradip Panja for fostering an environment of learning and
creativity within our school.
To my parents, their constant encouragement, patience, and understanding have been the pillars of
my success.
I am grateful to my friends who contributed ideas and perspectives that enriched the project. Thank
you everyone for shaping this project and enhancing my learning experience.
INDEX
SERIAL NUMBER TOPIC PAGE NUMBER
INTRODUCTION
1) A master clock in the brain co-ordinates all the biological clocks in living things keeping the
clocks in sync. In vertebrate animals, including humans the master clock is a group of about
20,000 neurons that forms structure called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN.
2) Three scientists namely Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young of Rockfeller
University were awarded Nobel prize for the discovery of the "biological clock" in 2017.
3) Each organisms try to adapt to their environment. Regular 24hr cycle of day and night on
earth led to the evolution of biological clock that reside within our cells. These clocks help us
unconsciously pick the best time to rest, search for food, or anticipate danger or predation.
4) In 1980s, the three scientists isolated "period gene" which had been theorized to control the
biological clock or the circadian rhythm, in fruit flies. Hall and Rosbash then discovered a
protein called PER that is encoded by the period gene and fluctuates over 24hr cycle, PER
level build up at night and drops during day.
TYPES OF BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS
Biological rhythms, or biological clocks, are recurring physiological, molecular, or
behavioral processes that are characteristic of all living organisms. They can be
categorized into four types based on their length:
Circadian rhythms
These rhythms repeat every 24 hours and are controlled by a genetic timekeeping
system called the circadian molecular clock. They are responsible for physiological
and behavioral changes like sleeping and eating.
Ultradian rhythms
These rhythms have a short duration, such as seconds, minutes, or hours, and occur
multiple times per day.
Infradian rhythms
These rhythms last days or even months, such as the menstrual cycle, which takes
approximately 28–32 days to complete.
Diurnal rhythms
These rhythms are the circadian rhythm synced with day and night.
Biological rhythms play a crucial role in coordinating various biological processes and
allow organisms to adapt to the external environment. External factors such as
exposure to sunlight, drugs, and caffeine can influence biological rhythms.
CIRCADIAN RHYTHM
Circadian rhythm is derived from the Latin words circa dies meaning 'approximately a
day'.
Term 'Circadian' was coined by Franz Halberg.
It may be defined as the changes in human behaviour and physiology that occur within
a 24 hours period. The human circadian system is regulated by endogenous clock
genes. There is a master clock found in the brain in an anterior section of the
hypothalamus nucleus known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus and these are located in
the eye, brain, heart lung, gastrointestinal tract, liver kidney and fibroblasts.
ORIGIN:
Photosensitive proteins and circadian rhythms are believed to have originated in the
earliest cells, with the purpose of protecting the replicating DNA from high ultraviolet
radiation during daytime.
BIOLOGICAL CLOCK IN MAMMALS
1) The primary circadian "clock" in mammals is located in the suprachiastmatic
nucleus .SCN receives information about illumination through the eyes. The
retina of the eye contains "classical" photoreceptors and the retina contains
specialized ganglion cells that are directly photosensitive and project directly to
the SCN where they help in the entrainment of this master circadian clock.
2) These cells contains the photopigmentmelanopsin and their signals follows a
pathway called the retinohypothalamictract, leading to the SCN. SCN takes the
information on the lengths of the day and the night from the retina, interprets it
and passes to pineal gland. Pineal gland secretes the hormones melatonin.
Secretion of melatonin peaks at night and ebbs during the day and its presence
provides information about night - length. Researcher at Harvard have shown
that human subjects can at least be entrained to 23.5 hour cycle and a 24.65
hours cycle.
BIOLOGICAL MARKERS AND EFFECTS
The classic phase markers for measuring the timing of a mammal's circadian rhythm
are:
1) Melatonin secreted by the pineal gland.
2) CR Core body temperature minimum.
3) Plasma level of cortisol.
For temperature studies, subjects must remain awake but calm and semi reclined in
near darkness while their rectal temperature are taken continuously. Though variation
is great among normal chronotypes, the average human adult's temperature reaches its
minimum at about 05.00, about two hours before habitual wake time. Baehr et al.
found that, in young adults, the daily body minimum occurred at about 04.00 am for
morning types but at about 06.00 pm at evening types. This minimum occurred at
approximately the middle of the eight hours sleep period for morning types but closer
to waking in evening types.
Melatonin is absent from the system or undetectably low during daytime. Its onset in
dim light, dim-light melatonin onset at roughly 9 pm can be measured in blood or the
saliva. Its major metabolite can also be measured in morning urine. But DLMO and
the mid point of the presence of the hormone in the blood or saliva have been used as
circadian markers. Benloucif [Link] found that melatonin phase markers were more
stable and more highly correlated with the timing of sleep than the core temperature.