A gene that controls how long we sleep has been discovered by scientists explaining why some people have their own internal alarm clock

Scientists identified a gene called ABCC9 that can reduce the length of time we sleep. The same gene has previously been linked to heart disease and diabetes. The discovery could explain why light sleepers, such as Margaret Thatcher, are able to get by on just four hours shut-eye a night. The Europe-wide study saw 4,000 people from seven different EU countries fill out a questionnaire assessing their sleep habits. Scientists then analysed their answers, as well as participants’ genes. They discovered that people who had two copies of one common variant of ABCC9 slept for significantly shorter periods than people with two copies of another version. Apparently the relationships of sleep duration with other conditions such as heart disease and diabetes can be in part explained by an underlying common molecular mechanism.