Frozen in time: cells' clocks tick on.Takes a freezing and keeps on ticking. Rat skin cells frozen for 25 years, when thawed thaw v. thawed, thaw·ing, thaws v.intr. 1. To change from a frozen solid to a liquid by gradual warming. 2. out, exhibit daily rhythms of gene activity that suggest the cells maintain their own biological clocks Biological clocks Self-sustained circadian (approximately 24-hour) rhythms regulating daily activities such as sleep and wakefulness were described as early as 1729. , a Swiss research group reports. This finding by Ueli Schibler of the University of Geneva The University of Geneva (Université de Genève) is a university in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded by John Calvin in 1559. Initially a theological seminary, it also taught law. and his coworkers, reported in the June 12 Cell, supports the growing belief that many, if not most, of the cells in an animal harbor individual biological clocks. Last year, for example, researchers showed that fruit flies seem to have clocks distributed throughout their bodies--including their wings, legs, and abdomens (SN: 12/6/97, p. 365). The discovery that laboratory-grown cells can keep time may make it much easier for scientists to tease apart Verb 1. tease apart - disentangle and raise the fibers of; "tease wool" loosen, tease unsnarl, disentangle, straighten out - extricate from entanglement; "Can you disentangle the cord?" the workings of the biological clock (SN: 7/11/98, p. 24). In the past, they've had to examine whole organisms, such as flies, or to study specific tissues that are hard to keep alive in the lab, such as slices of a region in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus suprachiasmatic nucleus anatomic nucleus which innervates the pineal gland; thought to play a part in the management of circadian rhythms. . |
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