2. Every day, about seven and a half million commuters use the sprawling train network in Mumbai, India and its surrounding suburbs. Nearly 3,000 people die on the network every year. In a recent stampede on a narrow overpass bridge at a Mumbai station, at least 22 people died from suffocation or from being crushed to death, while at least 36 others were injured. (NYT)
3. Three scientists shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology for their work leading to the discovery and understanding of this fact:
"All organisms, including humans, operate on 24-hour rhythms that control not only sleep and wakefulness but also physiology generally, including blood pressure and heart rate, alertness, body temperature and reaction time."Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young shared the prize. "Their work allowed them to 'peek inside our biological clock' and helps explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth's revolution," the Nobel Committee said.
Without going into too much technical detail, this depends on genes that encode a protein that accumulates in cells at night and then degrades during the day. This system also is responsive to light, which can also influence the 24 hour cycle.
This helps explain how jet lag works, because there is a misalignment between the person's lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by an inner timekeeper. Over time such a misalignment could contribute to risks for various diseases, according to the New York Times article about the prize.
Their work was done in fruit flies, and they had not expected to find that their discovery would include such a mechanism that operates in all living organisms. I'm still a little unclear about the significance, given that people who work on changing shifts do adjust over time to a changing wake-sleep pattern. But apparently it's seen as a major contribution to understanding something basic about our physiology. So, congratulations to the discoverers.
Ralph
No comments:
Post a Comment