Ueli Schibler - cellular clocks. Performance Around the Clock episode 42.

Ueli Schibler - cellular clocks. Performance Around the Clock episode 42.

From Performance Around The Clock by Dr. Satchin Panda

June 1, 2026 · 1h 11m

About this episode

This episode features Professor Ueli Schibler discussing his groundbreaking work in circadian rhythms and its clinical implications.

Episode 42 of the Performance Around The Clock podcast comes from the European Biological Rhythms Society Congress in Lubeck, Germany. We are joined by Professor Ueli Schibler, an icon in the circadian field whose foundational discoveries helped establish fundamental principles in the field of circadian rhythms. This episode explores Professor Schibler’s scientific journey, marked by serendipity and a philosophy of keeping an open mind to unexpected observations. The conversation highlights how an initial failure to replicate a transcription factor experiment led to the groundbreaking realization that DBP (D-box binding protein) was the first mammalian transcription factor found to exhibit a circadian oscillation. We dive into his lab's revolutionary findings, including the surprise discovery that individual cells, such as fibroblasts, possess their own self-sustained circadian clocks that can be entrained by a simple serum shock. Dr. Schibler and Panda also explore his seminal experiments demonstrating that food acts as a primary time-giver, or zeitgeber, capable of entraining circadian clocks in peripheral tissues like the liver. The discussion moves toward the profound…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Satchin Panda

Guest: Ueli Schibler

Topics covered

  • circadian rhythms
  • scientific journey
  • chronotherapy
  • transcription factors
  • cellular clocks

Keywords

  • circadian oscillation
  • DBP
  • zeitgeber
  • fibroblasts
  • chronotherapy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: European Biological Rhythms Society

Books & works: PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors

Places: Lubeck, Germany

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