Chronobiology and Chronomedicine

Circadian rhythms have been shown to be ubiquitous and critically important in the experimental laboratory, accounting for the difference between life and death in response to identical stimulus. The partly endogenous nature of circadian rhythms has been well documented and methods for their characterisation have been developed enabling the cellular and molecular mechanisms to be understood. Chronobiology and Chronomedicine aims to provide a review of these mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms and illustrate the role of the brain’s suprachiasmatic nuclei in the ‘pace-making’ process and the effects caused by ‘clock genes’ present in almost all cells. Beyond the mechanisms involved, the book discusses the…