Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Short Sleepers Might Be Benefiting From a DNA Mutation

Posted by timothy on from the wouldn't-exactly-say-I've-been-missing-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes: As someone definitely not in that category, I envy people who can get along with little sleep. I have sometimes secretly believed they're exaggerating. Maybe not. The BBC reports on DNA research that says there might be a genetic basis for the very low sleep needs that some people have. The article says that UC-San Francisco researchers "compared the genome of different family members. They discovered a tiny mutation in a gene called DEC2 that was present in those who were short-sleepers, but not in members of the family who had normal length sleep, nor in 250 unrelated volunteers. When the team bred mice to express this same mutation, the rodents also slept less but performed just as well as regular mice when given physical and cognitive tasks." If it's stuck in the genes, though, I guess I'll still want more hours in a row if I don't want to start hallucinating. So how many hours do you need? I seem to get along with six or seven, but sleep past noon on the occasional weekend day. Update: 07/09 19:24 GMT by T : The latest Freakonomics podcast has some interesting things to say about the economics of sleep, and hours-per-night is a big part of it.

5 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. I'd trade with my cat... by enterix · · Score: 4, Funny

    16hrs of napping a day plus athletic abilities of felines? Plus aren't we all more happy dreaming anyway? There was one of scenes in Inception that group of sleep drug subjects preferred dream reality from awake one... what's reality anyway...

  2. Interesting sociological study by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) Pick some rare advantageous trait (e.g. short sleepers, super multitaskers)
    2) Post a story about it on Slashdot
    3) Observe the large number of posters who claim to have the trait

    Optionally:

    4) Cross-correlate these posters against list of posters claiming to possess a different rare advantageous trait in previous Slashdot discussions

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Interesting sociological study by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      My voice is not affected by helium.

  3. So how many hours do you need? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I need about 1-2 more hours than I get.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  4. Re:Genetic, backed up by research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    their sample size is too small

    They have an entire fucking army that reports for duty every single day at 0fuckyou hours.