Discovery Of 'Reset' Button For Body Clocks Could Help Us Deal With Jet Lag

Canadian researchers are reporting the discovery of a "reset" switch for our body clocks that operates at the molecular level, a finding that could lead to treatments for conditions linked to disruptions of our circadian rhythm.

The discovery could yield a better understanding of a number of disorders linked to such disruptions, from sleep disturbances to behavioral or metabolic problems common with jet lag or shift work, they say.

Writing in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the scientists report their discovery that our body clocks get reset in a process known as phosphorylation, when a phosphate molecule combines with a particular brain protein - a process triggered by light. That trigger results in the synthesis of key proteins known as Period proteins with a central role in synchronizing the body clock's rhythm to daily environmental cycles, the researchers explain.