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The intelligent clock and the Rube Goldberg clock

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Circadian rhythms are generated by cell-autonomous molecular clocks in organisms ranging from cyanobacteria to humans. Recent research on the mechanisms of molecular clocks call for a reflection on the cause and necessity of complexity in biological systems.

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Figure 1: The intelligent clock and the Rube Goldberg clock.

Kim Caesar

Figure 2: Dual roles of CLOCK acetyltransferase activity in regulating the mammalian circadian clock.

Kim Caesar

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Acknowledgements

I thank L.A. Lindsey-Boltz, J.T. Reardon and C.P. Selby for comments on the manuscript and C.A. McCormick for her insight into the Rube Goldberg machines.

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  1. Aziz Sancar is in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. aziz_sancar@med.unc.edu,

    Aziz Sancar

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Sancar, A. The intelligent clock and the Rube Goldberg clock. Nat Struct Mol Biol 15, 23–24 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb0108-23

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