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Grantee in the News: Satchidananda Panda Research in Science on How Genes Follow a Circadian Rhythm

On February 8th 2018, Science published research co-authored by 2014 Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research recipient, Satchidananda Panda, Ph.D.

The article, “Diurnal transcriptome atlas of a primate across major neural and peripheral tissues,” focuses on how circadian rhythms effect gene transcription. The study shows that almost 80 percent of genes follow a day/night rhythm in many tissue types and brain regions. This is the most comprehensive study conducted that connects timing to gene transcription.

Using RNA sequencing, Dr. Panda and his research team tracked the gene expression in dozens of different non-human primate tissues every 2 hours for 24 hours.

In a related article in Scicast, Dr. Panda shares the importance of this research: "This is the first time a reference map of daily gene expression has been established," he continues, "it's a framework to understand how circadian disruption causes diseases of the brain and body, such as depression, Crohn's disease, IBD, heart disease or cancer. This will have huge impact on understanding the mechanisms or optimizing cures for at least 150 diseases."

The research originally published in Science is available for purchase here, and the related Scicast article can be viewed here.

For more on Dr. Panda’s AFAR-funded research, read his Grantee Spotlight Interview here.


Satchidananda Panda, Ph.D. is a Professor of the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

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