The movement of genes in cells helps organisms judge time

Almost all living things on the earth-from bacteria to plants to humans-have a circadian rhythm, which is a biological clock that controls the physiology and behavior of organisms within 24 hours

 For decades, this internal biological clock has been the subject of intensive research (the discovery of the genes that drive this biological clock led to the 2017 Nobel Prize), but how the circadian rhythm works in living cells has not been studied until recently.

 Using the relatively simple clock found in Drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster), University of Michigan researchers Dr.

"Now, we can visualize these proteins in the fruit fly brain when the clock is ticking," said Adelapari, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at the Michigan Medical School

The biological clocks in fruit flies and humans are produced by specific genes in response to environmental signals (such as light)

One of the most famous processes controlled by the circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle

 Several other body processes fluctuate within 24 hours and are controlled by RNA expression that rises and falls within 24 hours

"Genes are moved to the edge of the nucleus in our cells, and then moved back, basically every 12 hours, once a day-throughout the life cycle of the organism

"Your cells are making key clock proteins.

Her team found that the organization of PERIOD in cells is surprising, rather than randomly distributed

Yadrapari said: "Genes are moved to the edge of the nucleus in our cells, and then moved back, basically every 12 hours, once a day-throughout the entire life of the organism

The research team further observed that fruit flies without nuclear membranes exhibit abnormal behaviors in response to light and darkness

Yadrapari said: "If you disrupt the process of these 150 neurons in the fruit fly brain, it will affect the sleep/wake cycle of the fruit fly

This research provides basic insights into the function of the circadian clock at the subcellular level

"Clock proteins regulate spatiotemporal organization of clock genes to control circadian rhythms," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) .
DOI: 10.
1073/pnas.
2019756118