Dr Herman Wijnen

Research groups

Research interests

• Control of Daily Rhythms by Circadian Clocks and the Environment
• Genetics, Behaviour and Neuroscience of the fruit fly Drosophila
• Chronophysiology of Invertebrates in Association with Global Environmental Change and Food Security
• Functional Genomics and Regulation of Gene Expression

Current research

Why do we sleep at night? What causes jet lag? How can molecules measure time? To answer these and related questions the Wijnen lab studies biological systems for daily time keeping that are known as circadian clocks. Circadian clocks allow organisms to organize their bodily functions in a daily schedule and keep their internal rhythms in sync with environmental rhythms of light and temperature. We would like to know what genes and molecules are involved in the function of circadian clocks and how they function together to measure time and coordinate biological rhythms.

For our research we use invertebrate models.

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an experimental model that is not only convenient to use, but also offers powerful tools for conducting genetic, molecular, and behavioural studies. Moreover, as it turns out, studying the molecular mechanisms of the clock in Drosophila not only gives us insights into the basis of daily timekeeping in insect pests, pollinators and disease vectors, it also helps us understand clock function in mammals. A lot of our understanding of the internal clocks of humans has come about based on discoveries made in these flies. We are currently using Drosophila as a model to understand how the clock circuits in the brain control sleep/wake rhythms in a manner that integrates environmental light quality and intensity.

We also study insect pests and the way that their intrinsic circadian rhythms might be used to inform strategies for their management. These include the invasive horticultural pest spotted wing Drosophila as well as Diamondback moth a major agricultural pest of brassica crops. Finally, we are interested in the environmental impact of artificial light. In particular, we investigate how artificial light at night impacts Gammarid aquatic crustaceans at the behavioural and molecular level and what role their circadian clocks might play in this process.

Research projects