The Newton Lower Falls listserv was abuzz this morning with the announcement that Lower Falls’ own Michael Rosbash will be sharing this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with two colleagues – Jeffrey Hall and Michael Young.
The crew won the prize for their work unlocking the genetic basis of circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are the body’s inherent sense, independent of light cues etc, of the length of the day and daytime/nightime. These rhythms influence everything from sleep, behavior, hormone levels, body temperature and metabolism.
This is really exciting. We often take for granted how many brilliant people choose to call Newton home.
This is a Nobel Prize winner who lives right here in Newton. He and his colleagues won the award for their research on Circadian rhythms. “Circadian rhythms are the body’s inherent sense, independent of light cues etc, of the length of the day and daytime/nightime.” The School Committee should send him a congratulatory letter, and ask for his opinion of early morning start times for high school students.
It’s an established fact that the Circadian rhythm of teenagers differs markedly from both younger children and adults. It is also an established fact that teenagers need more sleep, and early morning high school start times interfere with the natural Circadian rhythm of teenage students. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics and Center for Disease Control have been recommending later high school start times for years. Unfortunately, the Newton School Committee has ignored them. Perhaps the’d listen to a Nobel Prize winner?
Congratulations to Dr. Rosbash!
Not only does he now have a Nobel prize he also seems to have one of the coolest names for a field of study – “chronobiology”
This IS indeed one smaht town. Here are two earlier Newton Nobel winners. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more.
* H. Robert Horvitz, MIT professor of biology who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2002
* Susumu Tonegawa, MIT professor who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987
There was another Newton-affiliated winner in this batch of Nobels. Dr. Rainier Weiss shared the prize in physics for his work on gravitational waves. There was a Boston Globe article a while back which indicates that he lives in Newton.
According to the assessor’s database, Dr. Rainer indeed owns a house in Newton.
Dr Rainer