Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of our internal clock

Three US scientists receive Nobel Prize in Medicine for internal clock research
This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to three American researchers. The scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young are honored for their work on the function and control of the internal clock.

Nobel Prize in medicine for three Americans
As the Karolinska Institute announced on Monday in Stockholm, the Nobel Prize for Medicine this year goes to the three Americans Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young for work on the function and control of the internal clock. "Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythms to match the Earth's day-and-night rhythm," says a statement from the institute.

The Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to three Americans this year. The researchers are honored for their work on the function and control of the internal clock. (Image: Anton Gvozdikov / fotolia.com)

Adapt to the rhythm of the day
"Life on Earth is adapted to the rotation of our planet. For many years, we have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal biological clock that helps them adapt to the regular rhythm of the day, "writes the Swedish Institute.

"But how does this watch actually work?" The three researchers took the answer to this question a big step closer. They "were able to take a look inside our biological clock and illuminate how it works".

With the help of fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel Prize winners isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm.

They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell at night and then breaks down during the day.

They then identified additional protein components and revealed the mechanism that regulates the clockwork in the cell.

Important function of the internal clock
It is well known that our internal clock adapts to the different phases of the day. It regulates functions such as behavior, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism.

If there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock, such as traveling across multiple time zones and experiencing jet lag, our well-being is affected.

There is also evidence that a chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner timekeeper is associated with an increased risk of various diseases.

Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded for over 100 years
The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded annually since 1901 by the Nobel Prize of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Last year, the Japanese Yoshinori Ohsumi received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the decryption of the autophagy mechanism.

The year before, the prize went to three researchers from three different countries.

The last time a German was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine was in 2013 Göttingen-born cell researcher Thomas Südhof. (Ad)