"Molecular Basis" for jet lag is finally explained

Scientists at Oxford University believe they have finally found out why it takes us so long to adapt when we travel to new time zones.

Researchers say they have found the "molecular brakes" that prevent light resetting the body clock when we fly - which is what causes jet lag.

Experiments that they have carried out which was reported in the journal Cell, showed that "uncoupling" these brakes in mice allowed them to rapidly adapt. Researchers are hoping that this discovery will help with the invention of new drugs to treat jet lag and mental health disorders. 

Our Circadian Rhythm (body clock) helps us keep in tune with the pattern of day and night, this basically controls when we sleep and also what chemicals are produced at certain times. 

Light acts as sort of a 'reset' button to keep the clock in time, but when we travel, particularly on long haul flights can result in fatigue which can last for days known as jet lag.  

The team of researchers funded by the Wellcome Trust were attempting to figure out why people don't instantly adapt to the difference in time. The research looked into mice, this was because all mammals have the same core body clock as humans do. They focused on what is known as the "master clock" part of your brain which keeps the rest of the body in sync, to scientists this is known as the suprachiasmatic nuclei. During their research they were looking for parts of the DNA that had altered activity levels in response to the light.

Their experiments found that huge numbers of genes were activated but a protein named "SIK1" went round turning the genes off. This acted like a brake which limited the effect of light. 

So reducing the function of this protein meant that the mice would be able to rapidly adjust their body clock, even when it was shifted six hours. This would be an equivalent flight from the UK to India.

Researchers reduced levels by 50-60%, which is big enough to get a very, very big effect. What we saw was the mice would actually advance their clock six hours within a day. The untreated mice would take six days to do this.

He said some mental health disorders including schizophrenia were linked to an out-of-tune body clock, so these findings may open up new areas for research and a lead into possible treatements for these mental health disorders. 

"We have drugs which can make the clock shorter or longer, what we need is to shift it to a new time zone and that is what they have done