Jeremy Sorel

Dr. Ben-Shahar
Biology 1810
17 October 2013
Session 4: The Rhythm of Life
Rhythm is the essence of life; every living being has a fundamental
rhythm or pattern to their life. Certain times are for sleeping, others for being
awake, others for resting, and others for working. As Doctor Herzog
instructed us during the fourth session, this rhythm has a name: the
Circadian clock. This internal mechanism allows living object to maintain
their biological rhythm, despite changes in the outside world. Dr. Herzog told
us of horseshoe crabs he studied, who automatically activate night vision
after the sun sets, despite not actually being able to see the sunset. In fact,
this biological clock will operate even without external stimuli. Dr. Herzog
gave the example of a man stuck in a cave. Despite being in total dark, the
man would eventually fall into a natural pattern of sleeping for roughly eight
hours and thirty minutes each day, regardless of when darkness came
outside of the cave. This is the natural sleep rhythm for most normal human
beings; not following it can lead to serious health issues.
When humans skimp on their sleep patterns, they develop a sleep
debt that must be paid. Most people deprive themselves of sleep during the
week, accumulating a massive sleep, which is paid off during the weekends
by sleeping very late. This pattern of life is incredibly unhealthy; many of the
bodys vital processes occur while sleeping, and lack of sleep most certainly
affects daily tasks. Mental acuity is severely hampered while deprived of
sleep, as well as knowledge retention. In general, people who sleep more are
more engaged, vibrant individuals who also learn and retain knowledge
better. Thus, sleep is important to everyone, particularly to students.
But how does this Circadian clock keep time in our bodies? While no
concrete answer exists, Dr. Herzog shared with us a prominent theory. In our
DNA are thought to be genes known as clock genes. These genes transcribe
mRNA, which is later translated into a protein. This protein is thought to
suppress the operation of clock genes. Once enough of the protein has been
created, the production of mRNA by the clock genes ceases entirely.
However, these proteins do not exist indefinitely; they are broken down by
an enzyme, until too few proteins are left to suppress the production of more
mRNA by the clock genes. This transcription/translation feedback loop (TTFL)
happens roughly every 24 hours, and is the basis of Circadian rhythm.
This process of Circadian rhythm is innate; though it exists, gathering
conclusive experimentation to ascertain both its cause and its existence has
been difficult, without dealing significant damage to the test subject.
Previous means of researching the existence of Circadian genes involved
ultra violet rays which, while in small doses are not harmful, is detrimental to
the health of the test subject. However, Dr. Herzog showed us a different

newer method of imaging these genes, one that he himself has been
researching with. This method is called cellular bioluminescence imaging.
The fundamental principal of this type of imaging is implanting
bioluminescent genes from animals such as fireflies into test subjects,
artificially lending them bioluminescence. This bioluminescence is easily
triggered by giving these test subjects luciferase, an enzyme that cause the
protein luciferin (produced by the implanted genes) to glow.
This method of imaging has been considered somewhat less effective
than normal fluorescent imaging, which produces a much brighter glow.
However, utilizing bioluminescence has certain advantages of its own. Firstly,
it is non-invasive; the test subjects (in most cases, rats) need only be given
luciferase to cause the luminescence. Secondly, this procedure has a greater
temporal range. A modified rat lives just as long as the normal variety, thus
allowing tests to be run for a greater amount of time. Fluorescent imaging
often shortens the animals life span. Thirdly, bioluminescence has a high
dynamic range; in other words, the animal luminesces more and more (or
less and less) with more or less given stimuli, respectively. Fourthly, the
procedure is completely non- toxic, as opposed to the UV rays of fluorescent
imaging. And lastly, this method has a high spatial resolution. In other words,
the images produced from this method of imaging have little interference
due to light or other distortions of the image.
This last benefit is also somewhat of a detriment; the interference of
light in the image is decreased mostly because bioluminescence is extremely
dim. However, though it is much dimmer than fluoroscopic imaging,
bioluminescence is up to 50x more sensitive to stimuli than fluorescence.
This makes bioluminescence much more efficient than other forms of
imaging. Even so, the dimness of bioluminescence is an important factor to
overcome; for this reason, the cameras used to capture the luminescence
are extremely sensitive to light radiation. Even in pitch darkness, they are
still able to sense and display solar radiation. Thusly, they are the perfect
tool to capture the images of luminescing genes.
The most fascinating fact about Circadian clocks: they exist in literally
every cell in the body. While an entire organism is regulated by the Circadian
clock, each individual cell of the organism can oscillate in the same rhythm,
completely independent of its members. Dr. Herzog showed an experiment
run by one of his lab assistants in which individual cells were able to
luminesce in rhythm despite being completed isolated of each other. In
addition, this oscillation does not merely occur for a short period; it continues
nearly indefinitely. Dr. Herzog mentioned another experiment run by one of
his colleagues, in which a small sample of tissue was kept alive in a petri dish
and the oscillations of its internal clock were observed. For the nearly two
years it was kept alive, the tissue continued to oscillate according to a
constant schedule, ending only when the tissue died. Ultimately, this serves
to prove Dr. Herzogs initial claim; Circadian rhythm is everywhere.
Despite the numerous advances made in the fields of luminescent
imaging and Circadian rhythm, many questions remain unanswered. For

example, Dr. Herzog showed us evidence that the bodys timekeeper (the
suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus) can be tampered with,
destroyed, or even replaced. Without this vital tissue, the bodys system is
thrown out of balance. However, it can also be restored to normal function.
Could this be a possible remedy for many of the sleep disorders prevalent in
society? More knowledge of the workings of the Circadian clock and its ideal
rhythms could lead to more knowledge of the ideal living and habitation
schedule of human life. The research is not only beneficial; it is made
necessary by the rampant disregard for the sanctity of sleep.
Personally,