A new study implies that a synthetic form of cordycepin, a compound found in a medicinal fungus known to increase one's erotic drive, may also ease the burden of suffering from jetlag. 

Cordycepin is the active component in a fungus called C. militaris. This fungus gets its notoriety because of its similarity to a rare fungus called C. sinensis. C. sinensis is found sprouting out of corpses of dead caterpillars in the Tibetan Himalayas. It has memorably been described as "Himalayan Viagara" and sells for around $35,000 per pound in China.

C. militaris is cheaper and more accessible. The fungus parasitizes insects. It forms a small, three or four-centimeter mushroom-like budding form with a bright orange cap.

In this study published on Wednesday on Science Translational Medicine, a synthetic form of cordycepin was analyzed to determine if it could be of help for people experiencing jet lag.

Scientists found that synthetic cordycepin acutely helped mice adjust to the time change. According to the researchers, when mice are exposed to an 8-hour time adjustment, it would usually take them ten days to adjust. 

This would be typical, say, for people travelling from New York to Abu Dhabi. Surprisingly, it only took the mice four days to adjust to the new time frame. 

Erquan Zhang, a senior author of the study and an assistant investigator at the National Institute of Sciences Beijing, says that the findings of their research imply that cordycepin can help reset the circadian rhythm. This is more commonly known as the body or biological clock.

Zhang says that the team wants to inform people that quick and drastic changes for controlling one's body clock are possible. 

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How can a Fungus Regulate One's Body Clock?

The team found that the artificial cordycepin can fasten to an enzyme called RUVBL2, and alter the transcription of clock genes. These are genes that are switched "on" and "off" while the body goes through our 24-hour cycles.

RUVBL2 was abundant in parts of the mouse brain like the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. This is the light-sensitive area of the brain that is the control center of the circadian rhythm.

Cordycepin attaches to RUVBL2, which creates an outpouring of changes. Initially, a vital protein is forced to leave chromatin, a structure that compresses DNA into bundles. Once that protein leaves, other genes related to the circadian rhythm, called E-box genes, are quickly transcribed.

Cordycepin can be thought of as a key that "unlocks" the ability to transcribe those genes. Once that happens, the clock is reset, and a new cycle of 24 hours begins. 

Zhang speculates that the "magic drug" can adjust the clock phase up to 12 hours and that timed regulation of the internal body clock is attainable.

According to Zhang, since their study was conducted on mice, further research needs to be done to determine how the findings translate into humans. He adds that the people who might benefit most from their discovery would be shift workers and travellers who might need a way to control their body clocks. 

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