Some University of Michigan mathematicians believe they’ve figured out the key to our biological clock - a finding that potentially could lead to cures for jet lag and insomnia.

Those mathematicians, along with scientists from the University of Manchester in England, say they found a timing signal the brain sent to the rest of the body to control biological rhythms.

The scientists created a new mathematical model able to predict a complex firing pattern of that timing signal. The model shows theories about the biological clock have previously been wrong, according to the study reported this week in the journal Science.

“Knowing what the signal is will help us learn how to adjust it in order to help people,” Daniel Forger, an associate professor of mathematics, a member of U-M’s Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and an author of the study, said in a release.

“We have cracked the code, and the information could have a tremendous impact on all sorts of diseases that are affected by the clock.”

Check out the stories picked up in the Daily Mail, as well as the Examiner.

Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.