Guts and rhythms: Disrupting daily routine of gut microbes can be bad news for whole body

TheConversation: We’ve known that bacteria live in our intestines as far back as the 1680s, when Leeuwenhoek first looked through his microscope. Yogurt companies use that information in the sales pitch for their product, claiming it can help keep your gut bacteria happy. The bacteria growing on our skin have also been effectively exploited to sell the underarm deodorants without which we can become, ahem, malodorous. Until fairly recently our various microbes were thought of as freeloaders without any meaningful benefit to our functioning as healthy human beings. However, that view has changed in a big way over the last couple of decades.

Researchers transplant circadian rhythm into non-circadian species

Harvard: Often referred to as the “body clock,” circadian rhythm controls what time of day people are most alert, hungry, tired or physically primed. However, this complex biological process is not unique to humans. Circadian rhythms, which oscillate over a roughly 24-hour cycle in adaptation to the Earth’s rotation, have been observed in most of the planet’s plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria, and are responsible for regulating many aspects of organisms’ physiological, behavioral and metabolic functions.

A new Harvard study shows how circadian rhythms can cause disease

Harvard: Life itself arose among the oscillations of the waves and the oscillations between darkness and light. The oscillations are carried in our heartbeats and in our circadian sleep patterns. A new study in Cell shows how these oscillations reach all the way down into our cells and help mastermind the timing of protein production. It’s a whole new layer of biology that could shed light on our understanding of conditions such as cancer, autism and metabolic disorders, which may involve disrupted protein production. And it grew out of research on tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare genetic disorder that often causes autism.

A new clock for circadian rhythm discovered

Ruhr: Biochemists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have gained new insights into the generation and maintenance of circadian rhythms. They demonstrated that the Ras protein is important for setting the phase of such a circadian clock, as its activity determines the period length of the rhythm. Ras is also contributing to induce phase-shifts in circadian rhythms in response to external time cues such as light. The team headed by Prof Dr Rolf Heumann published their results in the magazine “Molecular Neurobiology”.