Too many Americans are sleep-deprived. Although the overwhelming majority of adults needs at least seven hours of sleep per night, 35.2% report getting less than that on average. The consequences are concerning: subpar sleep is linked to higher risks of death, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.
But for a lucky few, maybe 1% to 3% of the population at most, sleep is little more than an afterthought, even an impediment. These “natural short sleepers,” as they are commonly called, need just four to six hours a night to wake up fully rested. As a bonus, they seem to be slimmer than average, more optimistic, more psychologically resilient, have a higher pain tolerance, and are even immune to jet lag.
[Neurologist Ying-Hu] Fu and her colleagues have identified numerous genes than unlock the trait, and they think that more are waiting to be discovered. Single mutations to either DEC2, ADRB1, Npsr1, and a few others are tied to natural short sleep.
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Longer term, it’s possible that CRISPR gene-editing treatments could be tailored to grant people short sleeper powers. Another team from the California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences & Psychology notes that this could be done safely, as the genes involved are mutated at single points, altering their function involving the circadian clock “without causing any significant changes in the other biological systems.”
