The fruit fly is "the star of the show" in studying cellular "body clocks" and identifying how to deal with the negative impacts of sleep disruption like jet lag or shift work, according to Nobel Prize winner Prof Michael Rosbash.
The circadian rhythm of flies, animals and humans – running to a cycle of approximately 24 hours – was critical to survival as "the early bird gets the worm; the early worm avoids the bird", he told the Schrödinger at 75 conference in Dublin.
The sleep/wake cycle was almost identical in animals, but it was not known why a 24-hour cycle applies, exactly what happens over time, or the influence of temperature.
Current knowledge could, however, be leveraged to improve human health, said Prof Rosbash who is based at Brandeis University in the US. He was awarded the Nobel Prize last year for discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.
Shiftwork and diabetes
There was good evidence of increased frequency of diabetes in those who do shift work, and of discordance when eating – which was controlled by the brain – was disrupted. The American habit of having an apple pie at 10.30pm when one should not be eating – as body repair systems needed to do their thing – was not advisable. “When you eat is maybe as important as what you eat,” he added.
In fruit flies, sleep disorders caused by genetic mutations were in many ways similar to those affecting humans. In both species, ageing can also disrupt sleep. Humans, if sleep-deprived from Monday to Friday, have longer, deeper sleep at the weekends. Similar behaviour was seen in flies, he said.
It was clear that circadian clocks affect all aspects of what humans do. The same clock was operating in liver, heart and skin cells, and being regulated by genes, Prof Rosbash said.
On the funding of science, he pointed out that eight of the 10 Nobel Prize winners in Science last year “were ‘mature’ American white guys” aged between 68 and 85. This, he concluded, was due to having worked during a “golden post-war era” when basic research was supported through public and private funds.
