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Some people have to wake up really early. I’m talking 3am early. Everyday. And not because they want to.
In this week’s episode, Dr. Louis Ptacek, an HHMI investigator and UCSF professor, discusses how alterations in our genes (called “mutations”) can be blamed for this trait. Louis is interested in understanding certain aspects of normal brain function, such as sleep. In my chat with him, he talks about our body’s natural circadian rhythm and how it is controlled by a “feedback loop” that controls gene expression and protein construction.
Keywords:
- Morning larks
- Circadian rhythms
- Feedback loop
- Sleep
Related Publications:
- Jones et al. 1999 Nature Medicine
- Xu et al. 2007 Cell
- He et al. 2009 Science
- Xu et al. 2005 Nature
- Toh et al. 2001 Science
Click here to download mp3 or press the play button to listen directly.
