Clockwork Genes:
Biological Rhythms in Health and Agriculture
Dr. Steve A. Kay
Dean, Division of Biological Sciences
Richard C. Atkinson Endowed Chair
Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology
University of California, San Diego
Lecture held: November 27, 2007 / 6:30 pm / SDNHM
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Dr. Steve A. Kay is the Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences and holds the Richard C. Atkinson Chair in Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Previously he was Chairman, Department of Biochemistry, Professor of Cell Biology, and Director of the Institute for Childhood and Neglected Diseases at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, where he was a faculty member from 1996 to 2007. His academic research concerns the molecular genetic basis of circadian rhythms in plants, animals, and humans. He was also recently the Director of Discovery Research at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), where he built a large department for applying human genome science to biomedical research and drug discovery.
Dr. Kay received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Bristol in 1981 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the same institution in 1985. He has received several awards, including a Keck Foundation Faculty Award in 1992 and the Honma Prize for Life Sciences in 1999. His work has been cited in Science magazine’s “Breakthroughs of the Year” in 1997, 1998, and again in 2002.
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| As the earth spins on its axis, most organisms are exposed to alternating light and darkness. To take advantage of this daily cycle, both plants and animals have evolved highly accurate daily clocks, or circadian rhythms, to appropriately control behavior and metabolism. We are all painfully aware of our internal circadian clock controlling our sleep, e.g., wake cycles when we travel across time zones or when we undertake shift work. But did you know our clocks also control our blood pressure and fat metabolism, as well as our cognitive abilities? In many animals circadian clocks are responsible for behaviors ranging from courtship to insect pollinators. Plants even grow with daily rhythms and use their clocks to decide the correct seasons to flower. In this lecture we will explore how these clocks are constructed within our bodies, how they differ among organisms, and how the new field of systems biology may allow us ultimately to manipulate them to benefit health and agriculture.
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