Plants use Biological Clocks to Welcome the Spring and Avoid Economic Crises

Professor Andrew Millar’s research group combines experimental biology and mathematical models to study complex processes within cells, particularly the 24-hour biological clock. The clock synchronises many biological processes with day and night, from the cell division cycle to the human sleep-wake cycle. Plants use the clock to predict the duration of darkness at night, avoiding nightly starvation. The same 24-hour clock can also measure the lengthening days in Spring to trigger flowering, so the clock becomes a calendar. The robustness of this biological system contrasts with the fragility of our financial system.

Host: Professor Bob White