Edward Hayter, University of Manchester, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.113.17

The importance of circadian rhythms has gained widespread recognition recently since the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to circadian biologists Michael Young, Michael Rosbash and Jeffrey Hall for determining the molecular mechanisms of the clock in fruit flies. Indeed, several UK institutions now have substantial research groups focusing on circadian rhythms and related processes (such as Manchester, Oxford and Surrey). The rapid growth of this field, coupled with its ubiquity across species and disciplines, begs the question of when, and to whom, it should be taught.

Some universities across the UK, including Warwick, UCL, Surrey, Oxford and Manchester, have begun teaching circadian rhythms as an optional undergraduate module aimed at final-year students, though the availability of these units depends highly on the degree program. For example, Warwick and UCL offer their courses primarily to life science students with the aim of understanding the science behind circadian rhythms, while Surrey also offers the unit to more applied courses, such as Nutrition and Sport and Exercise Science, to communicate the importance of circadian rhythms in health and disease. Oxford shares this attitude and offers their unit to students reading Medical and Biomedical sciences to make students aware of the real-world impact of circadian rhythms and chronotherapeutics/pharmacology in treating disease.

As the importance of circadian rhythms in everyday life and disease states is becoming increasingly apparent, I believe this discipline, especially the idea of chronopharmacology, should be a fundamental concept taught to students training for medical professions. Such teaching would help future medical practitioners provide useful advice about relatively simple changes (such as the time a drug should be taken) that could make a huge impact on patient welfare and outcome. For example, chemotherapy treatments, when administered at the most appropriate time of day, cause significantly reduced side effects.

As a Manchester graduate, I completed the “Clocks, Sleep and the Rhythms of Life” module during my final year. This unit is open to all life science degree programmes but is mostly taken by Neuroscience, Biology, and Pharmacology students. Lectures focus heavily on the neural mechanisms of circadian rhythms, arousal, and metabolism and how they integrate to control whole animal behaviour and physiology. They also highlight the impact of the circadian system on cognition and sleep. Overall this was one of the most enjoyable units during my time as an undergraduate, due in part to the wide range of physiological systems that are influenced by the circadian system and the requisite integration of contemporary research into the teaching. The course certainly helped me become more engaged in the topic and ultimately led to me pursuing a PhD in the field.

Interestingly, some students are exposed to teaching on circadian rhythms even earlier than undergraduate level. Biological rhythms are briefly included in the AQA and OCR (two main UK exam boards) A-level Psychology syllabi, including information on what they are and how they are involved in shift-work/jetlag (OCR) and circadian pacemakers and entrainment to external stimuli (AQA). At the other end of the spectrum, medical students, postgraduates or early career researchers who have not learned about circadian rhythms, or wish to supplement their knowledge, can attend the Oxford Chronobiology and Sleep Medicine Summer School, a 5-day intensive course designed to provide the fundamentals and applications of circadian research.

While teaching of circadian rhythms is becoming more mainstream, should universities be doing more to integrate this topic into the syllabus of life sciences/medical degree programmes? Tim Brown, the unit director for the “Clocks, Sleep and the Rhythms of Life” module at Manchester, says, “Teaching circadian rhythms is especially beneficial because of their prevalence across biology. On one hand, students learn important concepts that will be relevant to any future career in life sciences or medicine. On the other hand, the direct impact of circadian rhythms on our own day-to-day lives helps students engage with their course in a way that they may not with other topics they are taught.” Across the pond, UC San Diego’s Centre for Circadian Biology run an integrative project between undergraduates from various disciplines and circadian researchers called the BioClock Studio. This innovative project produces educational resources centred on circadian biology, aims to promote understanding of circadian rhythms, and is targeted towards multiple audiences including students, clinicians, non-circadian researchers, and the general public. This outward-facing initiative is exactly what the field needs to increase accessibility and further promote the importance of biological timing. While progress is being made in this area, innovation like this would really help to accelerate the integration of circadian rhythms into mainstream degree programmes.