The "Alarm Clock" Gene

Researchers at Salk Institute for Biological Sciences have identified a gene that starts up one's biological clock. Reseachers believe that the protein JARID1a is responsible for the activation of our biological clock. The biological clock kicks our metabolism and other physiological functions into gear that tell our body it is time to wake up. Salk teamed up with McGill Univeritsy and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and identified the gene KDM5A encodes a protein, JARID1a, that activates something in our biochemical circuit. Researchers studied circadian rhythems in human and mouse cells and fruit flies. They saw that the enzyme JARID1a was required for the normal activity of the body.  With the understanding of why people wake up, the researchers believe that they can now use JARID1a to study sleep disorders and chronic illness, which may lead up to the development of new drugs. One example is diabetes. Conversion of sugar and fat are usually done at certain times of the day. However, with diabetes, sugar and fats conversion takes place all day. They believe the biologic clock is not correct therefore leading researchers to see if they can correct the biological clock.