Our bodies are ruled by the daily solar cycle of the earth. But we also all have our own internal biological clocks, which more or less sync up to this daily rhythm. This internal clock is crucial not only for our patterns of sleeping and waking but for all kinds of activities which our bodies and cells undertake. 

But if our internal clocks and that of the outside world are out of sync, then the consequences can be profound and come with serious health implications. This is particularly problematic for blind people whose circadian clocks aren’t kept synced to the outside world’s rhythms by exposure to sunlight.

Our two guests today, in a project supported by the Oxford Berlin Research Partnership, are working on a new method to better measure and diagnose these disruptions to someone’s circadian rhythm; something which can then be used to resync the patient’s internal clock and improve their quality of life. They are Achim Kramer, the head of Chronobiology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and Russell Foster, a professor of sleep and circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford.  We learn about their work, and why these circadian rhythms are so vital to our health and happiness.