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Bio clock
Mamma says cocks know when to crow
when it is time to get up and go
get ready for the daily chores you know
saints and scholars for prayer and lessons
elderly ones for a morning walk with patience
each one for his field of life time
since old days when there was no clock to chime
cocks have crowed faithfully the measure of time
day after day ,in or out of season all the time .
But how do they know when to crow ?
what propels them and urges them to do so ?
while the sky is still pretty dark
studded with myriad twinkling stars
when Sapt rishis blessing bright Dhruv star
are still seen moving on their destined path
and there is not yet a ray of light in the sky
morning spectrum is not yet visible to the eye
how cocks know it is time to crow ?
and say good morning to all who care, so
as to get up get ready timely and to go
on their chore early, energized and more so .
Of course it is seen and known since old days
that with the dawn the birds and others awake
chirp chirp and fly away merrily to make
the most of all with which God has blessed their race
and so do dear deers and others of His make ;
and with the falling dusk all creatures somehow know
it is time to return and rest in the nest or den or cave
sleep,and have sweet dreams for all you know
till it is time again for the cock to crow .
But do plants also awake and sleep ?
fungi, bacteria, corals and others in the deep ?
Do they also have a sense of time ?
If not how they carry on all the time !
If yes what is the secret of their life time. ?
It is not simply a curiosity of yours or mine
it has agitated Men from Platos time

how many bio activities follow timely in cyclic order

days after days, months after months ,year after year;
And even to day we may ask
how in the body of each of us
from unicellular prokaryotic bacteria
to multi cellular eukaryotic mammalia
all forms of life for billions of years have been
carrying on activities with precision we prize
repeating, , cyclically time bound time wise .
It appears scientists have now answers for
some of the questions we were looking for
having discovered a fascinating fact to tell
a bio clock ticks in our each and every cell
keeping time , synchronizing and ensuring
timely progression of processes, and besides
taking care of the cues which Nature provides .
Surprisingly in all the Kingdoms of forms of Life
Archaea bacteria protista animals plants and fungi
up up the ladder right up to mammals on the high
It is the same amazing story to tell
for rhythmic time keepers ring the bell .
Breathing eating sleeping mating migrating hibernating
signaling germinating developing blooming fructifying
a multitude of processes living ones carry on in life
in which genetically controlled rhythms preside
for bio clock goes on oscillating all the while
without winding or battery or atomic device
from nona seconds to minutes , hours, days
months , seasons nay years as they go by
it tick tocks all the time vibrating with life .
There are genes in cells of yours and mine all right
called Time genes such as Clock, Period,
and Timeless which are sensitive to light
and produce photosensitive Timekeeper proteins
having the same name and oscillating all the time
interacting with each other and the parent genes
producing a signal which indicates the exact time
letting the organism adapt adjust and respond
promptly to environmental changes in good time .

These endogenous built in molecular clocks entrain

to adjust to various cues, and produce self sustaining
temperature compensated rhythms with precison
in cyclic order for specific periods for a length of time
and generate electric signals which are propagated
along bio chemical path ways enabling the system
to anticipate and get ready to meet the day
switching on or off essential processes on the way .
In many animals such as we men
there is a Master clock in the brain
in Hypothalamus at Optical Chiasma
a Supra Chiasmatic Nucleus -a karishma
of Nature, which receives signals from the eye
synchronises and passes them on to pineal body
for hormones to flow and affect physiological
processes we all carry on all the while ; .
then there are so many Peripheral Clocks
in each organ, apart from each cells own clock
all acting in unison to tell the time
and let our liver lungs heart or brain
and all other organs act in tune with time .
Indeed it is bio clocks which ensure that organisms
are ready to face challenges of life, in time
be it summer winter snow spring or rain
anticipate it and be ready to entrain
Simplest clocks are found in Cyanobacteria;
consisting of 3 protein products of 3time genes
interlocked in a feedback loop to ensure expression
of genes and products in such a timely rhythmic fashion
that it results in a 24 hour circadian cycle we may mention
In insects like fruit flies bees and butterflies
the clocks are even in antenna to ensure timely action ;
In fungi they also ensure conidiation
at regular periodic intervals of time .

Ticking nonstop accurately for 4 billion years

the clocks in green cells have made sure that
plants are ready before dawn to greet the sun
so that photosynthesis begins right there and then
as soon as first ray of light alights from the heaven.
In flowering plants they actually see to it that
their seeds germinate when conditions are right
and they bloom in spring when pollinators are
in abundance and also ensure that plants are
ready to attract them by colour, form, nectar
or aroma at the right time and win the war .
Light acts as a major cue in all forms of life
and its intensity,frequency ,wavelength or colour
brightness or even direction and duration matter ;
in fact photoperiodism is an important factor in
initiating seasonal changes in plants and animals
including morphogenesis and flowering in plants
changes in singing of some birds, and fur colour
,migration ,hibernation or other responses in animals.

and bioclocks tick in harmony with light sensitive

pigments called phytochrome and cryptochrome
and switching action of genes phy and cry inplants..
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