Researchers Identify "Early Bird" Gene
The BBC reports that researchers from the University of California have identitfied a possible genetic basis for Familial Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (FASPS).
FASPS causes people to be "out of synch" with most of us. FASPS sufferers usually fall asleep early then wake fully alert before dawn. Their internal body clock "runs fast" by an average of around 45 minutes a day.
The research found that FASPS sufferers from three generations of one family had a mutated version of the CKIdelta gene. When the same mutated gene was inserted into mice, they too became early risers - although interestingly the same mutation turned fruit flies into late risers!
FASPS causes people to be "out of synch" with most of us. FASPS sufferers usually fall asleep early then wake fully alert before dawn. Their internal body clock "runs fast" by an average of around 45 minutes a day.
The research found that FASPS sufferers from three generations of one family had a mutated version of the CKIdelta gene. When the same mutated gene was inserted into mice, they too became early risers - although interestingly the same mutation turned fruit flies into late risers!
