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UH team looking at life's rhythms

Biological clock research applies to fields from work shifts to drug administration

By Matt Cooper
The Daily Cougar

The UH Biological Clocks Program is hard at work determining what makes us tick.

The group, composed of more than 30 scholars and led by five tenured faculty members, is studying the genetic structure of biological clocks in fruit flies to help draw conclusions for human application.

"What we find in flies is generally applicable in terms of humans," Paul Hardin, professor of biology and biochemistry at UH, said.

Hardin pointed out many useful implications for understanding the human biological clock -- for example, genes could be targeted with drugs to help people with sleeping disorders.

"Through identification of other genes in flies, we would be able to identify targets for diagnostic purposes," Hardin said.

Understanding biological clocks may be key to predicting life-threatening situations like asthma attacks, which often occur in the middle of the night.

"Obviously, these things are well down the line," Hardin said. "That would be an application of the more basic research that we're doing into the fundamental mechanisms of how this time keeping mechanism works."

Our bodies are scheduled on a 24-hour cycle that includes our metabolism, energy level and general behavior, Hardin said, and the biological clock determines reactions to the environment depending on that cycle. He pointed out that research has determined fruit flies responded differently to odors depending on the time of day.

Not only is the biological clock on a 24-hour schedule, but it is also seasonal. As the seasons change and the amount of daylight changes with them, your body reacts accordingly, Hardin said.

"These differences in what's called 'photo period' are actually perceived by your daily clock," he said. "That is what triggers all sorts of seasonal differences in terms of physiology."

Knowledge of how the biological clock works can be useful in everyday life, Hardin said. He indicated that many college students pick the worst times to do homework or study, for example.

"Your alertness changes over time," Hardin said. "It turns out that one of the worst times, in terms of alertness, is really late at night and early in the morning."

Hardin said choosing those times to study yields little benefit compared to choosing a time of day when alertness is higher -- which also debunks another college myth.

"A lot of times, alterness is independent of how much caffeine you've had," Hardin said.

The research could also help people deal with jet lag and shift work, both situations affected by the body's natural rhythms. The biological clock may also hold answers to how drugs are metabolized, allowing more effective treatment with minimal side effects.

Hardin, who has been a part of the UH faculty since 1995, said most of the research in the project is done by students.

"I want to really acknowledge them and the progress we've made towards these goals," he said.
 

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