2017 MEDICINE NOBEL PRIZE FOR WORK ON BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS

2017 MEDICINE NOBEL PRIZE FOR WORK ON BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS

ഈ വര്‍ഷത്തെ(2017) വൈദ്യശാസ്ത്ര നൊബേല്‍ പുരസ്‌കാരം പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചു

Three Americans won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for their discoveries about the body's daily rhythms, opening up whole new fields of research and raising awareness about the importance of getting proper sleep.Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young won the 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize for isolating a gene that controls the body’s normal daily biological rhythm. Circadian rhythms adapt the workings of the body to different phases of the day, influencing sleep, behavior, hormone levels, body temperature and metabolism.They "were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings," the Nobel citation said.

Mr. Rosbash is on the faculty at Brandeis University, Mr. Young is at Rockefeller University and Mr. Hall has been associated with the University of Maine.The winners have raised "awareness of the importance of a proper sleep hygiene," said Juleen Zierath of the Nobel academy. Michael Hastings, a scientist at the U.K. Medical Research Council, said the discoveries had opened up a whole new field of study for biology and medicine.“Until then, the body clock was viewed as a sort of black box,” Mr. Hastings told The Associated Press. "We knew nothing about its operation. But what they did was get the genes that made the body clock, and once you've got the genes, you can take the field wherever you want to.""It's a field that has exploded massively, propelled by the discoveries by these guys," he told AP.The awardees’ work stems back to 1984, when Mr. Rosbash and Mr. Hall, who was then also at Brandeis, along with Mr. Young isolated the “period gene” in fruit flies. Mr. Hall and Mr. Rosbash found that a protein encoded by the gene accumulated during the night and degraded during daytime. A decade later, Mr. Young discovered another "clock gene."

Paradigm-shifting findings

"The paradigm-shifting discoveries by the laureates established key mechanisms for the biological clock," the Nobel Assembly said in its prize statement.

"Our wellbeing is affected when there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock, for example when we travel across several time zones and experience 'jet lag,'” the statement said. "There are also indications that chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner time keeper is associated with increased risk for various diseases."

ഈ വര്‍ഷത്തെ വൈദ്യശാസ്ത്ര നൊബേല്‍ പുരസ്‌കാരം പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചു. മൂന്ന് പേര്‍ക്കാണ് ഇത്തവണ പുരസ്‌കാരം ലഭിച്ചത്.  ജഫ്രി സി ഹാള്‍, മൈക്കല്‍ റോസ്ബാഷ്, മൈക്കല്‍ യങ് എന്നിവര്‍ക്കാണ് പുരസ്‌കാരം.ബയോളജിക്കല്‍ ക്ലോക്ക് അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കിയുള്ള കണ്ടുപിടിത്തങ്ങള്‍ക്കാണ് പുരസ്‌കാരം

Prof. John Kurakar