No sooner have the clocks gone forward than scientists have shed new light on the link between our biological clocks and DNA damage repair processes, essential in protecting our cells from cancer.
Studies at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute co-funded by Breast Cancer Campaign, show that a biological clock protein called HCLK2 has an unexpected role in controlling the response of our cells to DNA damage.
Published online in Nature Cell Biology, the results build on recent studies that have demonstrated a link between DNA damage response mechanisms and proteins involved in the control of the biological clock.
Dr Simon Boulton, head of the Cancer Research UK DNA Damage Response laboratory and lead author of the research, said: "It's genuinely surprising that two seemingly unrelated processes should be so intimately linked in our cells.
"It may be that DNA repair could be scheduled by the biological clock to take place at times of reduced metabolic stress. It's a bit like road works being done overnight when there's less traffic. But such ideas are, at present, speculative and much more research needs to be carried out to understand the cross-talk between these two processes."
Our bodies have a number of ways to protect cells from damage to DNA. It's a vital task because damaged DNA can lead to genetic mutations that may contribute to the development of cancer. The "biological clock" controls the production of various proteins in the body according to the time of day.
It has been previously shown that mutations in genes vital to either the DNA damage response or the biological clock function can give rise to an increased predisposition to cancer.