Researchers doing basic research behind the circadian clock got the Noble prize in 2017

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 In 2017, the Americans Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young recieved the Nobel Prize for their research about the circadian clock. A research that has led to a lot of practical knowledge about how we can feel better and avoid diseases. Diseases that are already known to be important are sleep disorders, type II diabetes, obesity-associated diseases, bipolar disorder and more.

 

About the Nobel Prize behind our circadian clock. 

Background: The genome is found on chromosomes, which in turn are found inside the cell nucleus of a cell. Genes are also found in the mitochondria but that's not relevant here. 

During the day when the gene called PERIOD is active, messenger RNA  is produced which is transported out of the cell nucleus to the  cytoplasm of the cell,which is the material that is inside the cell between the cell membrane and the nucleus. (Numbers 1 and 2 in the picture).

The messenger-RNA then produces the PER protein which is after that transported into the cell nucleus (Numbers 3 and 4) and there the activity of the gene later is blocked as a result of this charging. This gives rise to feedback with the consequence that the production of the PER protein is stopped, and this happens at night. This is a part of the mechanism behind the circadian clock or rhythm.

Michael W. Young discovered two more proteins called TIMELESS, which help the PER protein enter the cell nucleus. Furthermore, his research team found another gene, Doubletime, which controls when the PER protein is to be destroyed. I read this in a PBS article.

 

 PBS Public Broadcasting Service is an organization independent of state and companies funded by voluntary grants.

The artist who illustrates for Nobel Media is called Niklas Elmehed. He too deserves attention.

The Master Circadian Clock

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Mammalian physiology and behavior (and we are mammals) are organized in a daily program that makes a coordinated regulation in the body of light and dark conditions during the day and the night. This organization is also found in most cells in our body as well as circadian clocks (circadian clock). This machinery in the cells consist of genes that regularly express (produce) proteins, which interact in a network in the cell and affect other genes and thereby control the cell's physiology and metabolism. Almost half of all mammalian genes express in this way with a regular rhythm. In modern physiology, the importance of clock genes has been increasingly explored, and it has been found that they are directly involved in sleep disorders, but also in the development of diabetes, cancer, bipolar disorder and other chronic diseases.

 

^{For this circadian rhythm system to work, all circadian clocks in the body must be in step with each other and with the 24-hour clock; This is what the Master Circadian Clock does. It is like a pacemaker that sends out impulses with some regularity to the body's various cells, glands, organs. This regularity has developed over thousands of years, and from what I understand, it makes it easier for the body if as much as possible is done in a pre-arranged way. When you eat at different times, it signals to the salivary glands, gastric mucosa, duodenum, small intestine, large intestine and rectum in an adapted time sequence and contributes to digestion and absorption of nutrients, waste management  according to the plan that the circadian clock has. Not least, it is important that the body's organs are allowed to rest regularly and heal what has been damaged during the waking period. Sleep is an extremely important repair period for the body and its parts.}

^{The master circadian clock is located in the brain nearby where the optic nerves intersect. And exactly there  the signals from retina come and tell that’s time for the pineal gland to stop producing melatonin - the bright day has begun}

^Source:

About different lights in the sunshine

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 Hallo, welcome back to my blog.

I have been trying to understand more about the light from the sun and what the different lights could do to our health. I find this is very interesting field and I am curious about what will become of this new knowledge from scientists and  new studies. The sunshine spectrum is from ultraviolet  to infrared which means from the wavelenghts of about 250 nm to 10⁶ nm. One nanometer is 0.000000001 meter.  The wavelength of the light is important because the longer wavelength the more energy it contains. So the light we can see contains just about 40 percent of the total solar energy. The ultraviolet only seven percent but the infrared light has more than 50 percent of the total sun energy. 

Anyway,  ultraviolet light with short wavelength is important and gives us vitamin D. This explains why it is important to expose one self to the sunlight at the correct time as to the latitude where you are. In Sweden for example it is mostly possible to get the vitamin D from the sun from March until October and one have to "sunbathe" while your shadow is shorter than yourself ( the sun must be pretty high in the sky). The time one have to spend in the sun is short. In about a quarter of an hour you can get your daily need of vitamin D. If you are overveight or older you will have to spend a little more time. It is important that it is a short time because there are many warnings about risks of sunbathing and getting melanoma.

Picture: Four important lights from the sun.

1.The blue light is also very important. It is a part of the visible light. In the morning and during the day it gives us energy and helps us concentrate, react fast and is good for your mood and mental health. Light therapy  with blue and other  lights is used for depression and other sorts of unhealth. At night, however, blue lights can destroy your sleep. In the eye there is a part of the retina situated low in the eye which have special nervcells sensible to blue light. At night this can be a problem because when the blue lights hits this low part of retina, the special nervcells are activated and send signals to the inner part of the brain and further on to the pineal gland and tells it not to produce any metatonin..The melatonin is produced in the pineal gland at night and that melatonin goes into the blood and helps us among other things to sleep. But in the morning when morning light with the blue light hits the eye the gland stops to produce this melatonin.

2.  The NIR ( near infrared) light has a different function on the body but it works with melatonin too. In stead of the melatonin of the pineal gland this   is produced in the power station of our bodycells during daytime. The light which stimulates production is the NIR ligth. This NIR light has long wavelengths and a lot of energy so it can penetrate deep into the skin and the body. In this  way many of the powerstations or mitocondrias are hit by the NIR light. This is important because melatonin has another important function. It takes care of many toxic substances which are produced as side effects of the energy production in the mitocondrias. This is very effective because the melatonin is produced where it is needed during daytime.  This might prevent many diseases and that's why it is so fascinating. As time goes by we will know more.

What I write about so far is very much common knowledge in the way that there are no contraversies concerning the facts. When digging deeper I am sure there will be different opinions among experts and researchers.