Research into the effects of the human body clock is continuing in many different areas, which may help scientists understand why heart attacks are more likely to strike in the morning and asthma attacks at night.

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"I'm not saying that the human race is imminently doomed but it's also clear that the clock is ticking and time is running out in order to take action to avoid the escalating damages which could make the whole process unstoppable, " he told CNN.

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He added the MRC had filed a patent for developing ways to manipulate cAMP with regards to body clock but there were 15 to 20 years of experiments before any drug would be available for human use.

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