Resetting biological clocks
DOI: 10.1063/1.3068875
A pendulum can be stopped by a single impulse of the right magnitude, delivered at the proper time; started again, its phase will have changed. A biological oscillation, although it is a vastly more complicated phenomenon, can likewise be arrested by a single stimulus of a definite strength delivered at the proper time. This remarkable fact emerges from experiments I have conducted on two biological clocks, in organisms in the plant and animal kingdoms. The most interesting potential applications are, of course, those that involve the internal clocks of Man.
This article is only available in PDF format
References
1. A. T. Winfree: “The Temporal Morphology of a Biological Clock,” in Lectures on Mathematics in the Life Sciences (M. Gerstenhaber, ed.) Am. Math. Soc., Providence, R.I. (1970).
2. A. T. Winfree: “Corkscrews and Singularities in Fruitflies,” in Biochemistry (M. Menaker, ed.), Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington, D.C. (1971).
3. A. T. Winfree, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 149, 388 (1972).https://doi.org/ABBIA4
4. A. T. Winfree: “Time and Timelessness in Biological Clocks,” in Temporal Aspects of Therapeutics, (J. Urquardt, F. E. Yates, eds.) Plenum, N.Y. (1973).
5. W. Engelmann, H. G. Karlsson, A. Johnsson, Int. J. Chronobiol. 1, 147 (1973).
6. E. Bunning, The Physiological Clock, (third edition), Springer, New York (1973).
7. S. Kauffman, J. Wille, J. Theor. Biol. (in press, 1975).
8. A. T. Winfree, Nature 253, 315 (1975).https://doi.org/NATUAS
More about the authors
Arthur T. Winfree, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
