There’s a hidden clock that underlies every process of every living thing — from when our cells start dividing to how quickly we age. Researchers at Darpa, the Pentagon’s extreme science agency, believes they can find it, using a mash-up of biology, code-cracking, mathematics, and computer science.
If the effort succeeds — and, boy, is that a big if — the recently announced Biochronicity program could help us understand why cancer is so hard to beat, how stem cells self renew, and why cells are programmed to die. In other words, it’ll be one of the biggest breakthroughs Darpa has ever had.
Scientists these days have a half-decent sense of how our internal processes work. For example, we know that the carbs we eat are broken down into glucose and then broken down further into ATP, the energy that powers every cell. But when exactly that breakdown happens, what precisely triggers it, and how long each step takes is less known. Considering how important timing is in other areas of science – from chemistry experiments to quantum mechanics – it’s surprising how little emphasis it’s given in biology.
Read More: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/darpa-life-master-clock/
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