Can you not sleep at night and have trouble getting up in the morning? The findings showed that a mutation in a gene called CRY1 alters the human circadian clock, which dictates rhythmic behaviour such as sleep/wake cycles. Night owls are often diagnosed at sleep clinics with delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) — where a person’s circadian ryhthm is delayed from the typical day/night cycle. The gene mutation was discovered while studying the skin cells of people with DSPD. The circadian clock responds to external environmental cues, so it is possible for people to manage the effects of the mutation on sleep.

Source: Hindustan Times April 07, 2017 15:33 UTC