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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
A team of scientists from Munich have identified a gene known as ABCC9 which explains why some people only need limited amounts of sleep.
According to ABC News, researchers at Germany’s Ludwig Maximalians University determined that the gene is responsible for controlling how long an individual sleeps and why some seem to have their own internal alarm clock. The scientists found that people who had two copies of one common variant of ABCC9 slept for significantly less time than people with two copies of a different version of the gene.
The Hindustan Times reported that the study came from of 4,000 people from seven different European countries who filled out a questionnaire about their sleeping habits. The answers and the participants’ genes were then studied.
Mail Online reports that the scientists already had proven that the ABCC9 gene was present in fruitflies. 'When we blocked the function of ABCC9 in the fruitfly nervous system, the duration of sleep was shortened,” said study author Dr Karla Allebrandt. Professor Till Roenneberg added that sleep duration may be based on similar mechanisms in a wide range of diverse species.
ABCC9 had been linked in the past to heart disease and diabetes. In 2008, a study found a link between lack of sleep and a dangerous build-up of calcium in the arteries. And a 2010 study found differences in gene makeup that leave some people sleepier than others.
