Winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine are displayed (from left) Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young, during a press conference in Stockholm, Monday Oct. 2, 2017. The Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to the three Americans for discoveries about the body鈥檚 daily rhythms. (Photo by JONAS EKSTROMER / TT via AP)
STOCKHOLM 鈥� The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three Americans on Monday for discoveries about the body鈥檚 daily rhythms.
The laureates are Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young. Rosbash is on the faculty at Brandeis University, Young at Rockefeller University and Hall has been associated with the University of Maine.
The citation for the 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize says the researchers isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They 鈥渨ere able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings.鈥�
Circadian rhythms adapt the workings of the body to different phases of the day, influencing sleep, behavior, hormone levels, body temperature and metabolism.
The winners have raised 鈥渁wareness of the importance of a proper sleep hygiene鈥� said Juleen Zierath of the Nobel academy.
The awardees鈥� work stems back to 1984, when Rosbash and Hall, who was then also at Brandeis, along with Young isolated the 鈥減eriod gene鈥� in fruit flies. Hall and Rosbash found that a protein encoded by the gene accumulated during the night and degraded during daytime. A decade later, Young discovered another 鈥渃lock gene.鈥�
鈥淭he paradigm-shifting discoveries by the laureates established key mechanisms for the biological clock,鈥� the Nobel Assembly said in its prize statement.
鈥淥ur wellbeing is affected when there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock, for example when we travel across several time zones and experience jet lag,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淭here are also indications that chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner time keeper is associated with increased risk for various diseases.鈥�
The Swedish news agency TT quoted Rosbash as saying he got the call about the award just after 5 a.m.
鈥淚鈥檓 still shocked. I鈥檓 sitting here in my pajamas with my wife. I hadn鈥檛 even had a thought about this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 spoken with my colleagues yet. I haven鈥檛 even had time to have a cup of coffee.鈥�