Michael Rosbash's Nobel Prize Journey
The Ticking of the Clock: Michael Rosbash’s Nobel Prize Journey Chloe Dixon & J. B. Phillips, PhD Cumberland University 1 Cumberland Square, Lebanon, TN 37087
Life of Rosbash Circadian Rhythm Regulation Why is this significant?
Rosbash was born in Kansas City, Missouri. They mapped the circadian oscillator in the head because the body 10 While earth rotates all organisms are exposed to 24-hour He is married to a fellow scientist Nadja Abovich. expression was much less. patterns of light and dark patterns.8 In response to this light- His higher education: dark cycle organisms have learned to anticipate when an • California Institute of Technology event will occur because it happens at the same time every • Biologie Physico-Chimique day. The circadian rhythm has an affect on many organisms • Massachusetts Institute of Technology including humans.10,11
• University of Edinburgh Figure 1: Figure 2: The RNA Michael abundance of the per 7 Rosbash protein and its mutations at different Since 1973 he has been a part of the Brandeis times of the day.10 University faculty as a director of its Nation Center for Behavioral Genomics and an adjunct professor of molecular 2,6 biology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Figure 4; How the circadian rhythm is started in humans.1
Early Research Individual cells will respond differently to the signals which can control things such as sleep patterns.8 Therefore, Rosbash’s first interests were in RNA processing and someone who works a night or rotating shift could develop metabolism but he was also interested in the genetic influences Per protein had a stronger signal in the middle of the night than shift work sleep disorder due to a prolonged disruption of their in the behavior of Drosophila.2 in the middle of the day. To determine if there was a similar circadian rhythm.12,13 fluctuations in Per mRNA the wild-type flies were frozen at After several years at Brandeis University he collaborated with different circadian times.10 Jeffery Hall, a behavioral geneticist, and they isolated and Individuals that have shift work sleep disorder are also at a cloned the first circadian clock gene call period.2 The circadian greater risk of depression those those who do not but work The Feedback of Per gene products regulate their own mRNA rhythm can affect an organisms behavior. the same schedule.12,13 level which is called the Transcription Translation Feedback 10,11 Loop (TTFL). The per protein was the first in the family of pioneer proteins. They found that the gene period can have three mutations at its loci: PerS, PerL, Per01.10,11 The wild-type of the period gene is shown as Per+. References 1. “Circadian Rhythms.” National Institute of General Medical Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/ S circadian-rhythms.aspx. Per is a hypomorph meaning that it has decreased function 2. “Michael Rosbash.” Michael Rosbash | Gruber Foundation, Gruber Foundation, gruber.yale.edu/neuroscience/michael-rosbash. 3. “Michael Rosbash.” Michael Rosbash | Faculty | Department of Biology | Brandeis University, Brandeis University, www.brandeis.edu/biology/faculty/rosbash-michael.html. 4. “Michael Rosbash.” Michael Rosbash | Gruber Foundation, Gruber Foundation, gruber.yale.edu/neuroscience/2009/michael-rosbash. while lasting 19-20 hours. 5. Michael Rosbash – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Mon. 12 Oct 2020.