Body clock genes unravelled 3 May 2012 International travellers,
shift workers and even people suffering from obesity-related
conditions stand to benefit from a key discovery about the
functioning of the body's internal clock. Professor Chris
Liddle, from the Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical
Research, the University of Sydney, worked with a team from the
Salk Institute based in California, to demonstrate the
importance of circadian receptors found in the brain and the
liver. Their findings are published in Nature today. "The
research is important as these are the first core component of
the circadian clock identified that can be targeted with drugs,
which could provide relief for those affected by disrupted
circadian rhythms," said Professor Liddle. The circadian clock
is an internal daily body clock that controls alertness,
appetite, sleep timing and hormone secretions. "Previously we
have known that there are body 'clocks' not only in the brain
but in most other body tissues including the liver, pa