生物钟基因period的分子生物学

生物过程的昼夜节律是所有真核生物和部分原核生物的基本特征。自从ｐｅｒｉｏｄ基因被克隆以后，生物钟基因的研究已经取得长足的促进。本文回顾了ｐｅｒ基因及生物钟分子机制的研究历史，旨在为人类复杂行为的研究提供一条思路。

THE MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK GENE, period

Many biochemical,physiological and behavioural processes in organisms ranging from microorganisms to vertebrates exhibit circadian rhythms driven by endogenous oscillators.Since the cloning of the biological clock gene period in Drosophila ,the endeavor in two decades to understand the molecular components that constitute these oscillators has been rewarded:we now know the circadian rhythm is driven by four cogs:PER,TIM,CLOCK and BMAL1,and the mechanism which govern the circadian oscillation has been elucidated.This work on biological clock genes is spectacular not only for its heuristic value,but also because it illustrate the synegistic power of genetics and genomics.Given the evolutionary conservation of the mechanisms that govern the fundermental biological processes,the period story will greatly accelerate the reseach progress on human complex behavior