The end justifies the means, even at the cellular level

Each of our cells is endowed with a miniature clock composed of a set of ‘clock genes’. During the day, the expression of these genes varies, and this fluctuation influences many biological functions, including body temperature. In turn, our body temperature acts on the daily production of a protein called CIRBP, which will reinforce the activation of certain clock genes. The loop is thus completed. A team of biologists deciphered how, in this complex loop, the cell succeeds in producing the right amount of CIRBP protein during the day.