The amount of sleep needed each night may depend less on fluffy pillows than a single genetic mutation, according to recently published research.
A team of scientists claim they have identified a gene that regulates the optimum amount of human sleep each individual needs, explaining why after six hours in the land of nod one person may awake reborn, while another is like the living dead.
The study, published in the journal Science, identified a mother and daughter pair who needed well below the eight-and-a-half hours a night that doctors say is a must for long-term well being.
Blood tests from the easily-rested pair showed a mutation in their DEC2 gene, which has previously been implicated in the control of circadian rhythms — the cycles that regulate the daily patterns of human behavior.
Lead scientist Fu Ying-hui, a professor of neurology at the University of California, said her team then tested their findings on genetically modified mice and fruit flies.
The animals were observed scampering around in the dark more and sleeping less.
Fu said the observations “could provide an explanation for why human subjects with the mutation are able to live unaffected by short amounts of sleep throughout their lives.”
But it is still unclear whether the mutation affects sleep quantity alone or also wakefulness.(AFP)
最近公佈的一項研究報告指出,影響人類每晚所需睡眠時間長短的關鍵,並非鬆軟的枕頭,而可能是單一基因突變。
一組科學家宣稱,他們已找出一種專門控制每個人所需最佳睡眠時間的基因,這可以解釋為什麼同樣睡了六小時,有些人醒來後生龍活虎,有些人卻像行屍走肉。
刊登在《科學》雜誌的這項研究,以一對每天睡眠需求遠少於八個半小時的母女為研究對象;八個半小時是醫生建議長期保持健康所需的每日睡眠時間。
這對容易入眠的母女血液檢驗顯示,她們的DEC2基因發生突變,先前曾有科學家認為這基因和控制晝夜節律有關;晝夜節律就是規範人類每日生活作息的循環。
加州大學神經病學教授,同時也是該研究主持人的傅嫈惠教授表示,她的研究團隊隨後將這項發現用來測試基因改造過的白老鼠和果蠅。
結果這些動物在黑暗中活蹦亂跳,睡眠時間也減少了。
傅教授表示,這些觀察結果「可以解釋為何該基因突變的人,終其一生都睡得比別人少,但生活卻不受影響的理由」。
研究團隊目前還不清楚該突變基因影響的只有睡眠需求,還是也會影響失眠。
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of