WASHINGTON — Thomas Edison slept for only three or four house each night, but Albert Einstein slept for at least ten. As it turns out, the amount of sleep people need each night is, in part, determined by genetics, scientists say.
An international team of researchers have discovered that people who need a lot or just a little sleep have different variations of the gene ABCC9, which has already been identified as a factor in heart disease and diabetes, according to Science Daily.
For the study, scientists assessed the sleeping habits of more than 4,000 people from seven European countries and found that “people with two copies of once common variant of the gene ABCC9 generally slept for a significantly shorter period” than people with two copies of another variant, Science Daily reports.
In fact, the gene, ABCC9, is such a basic part of our DNA that fruit flies have it. When that gene is removed from the flies, they sleep three hours less than usual.
One of the authors of the study tells the The Hufffington Post the discovery is important due to the many health issues associated with sleep patterns.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report.
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