In July 2015, researchers from Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden discovered that just overnight can change the genes that control our cell clock!
The researchers recruited 15 healthy male volunteers to participate in two experiments, each spending two nights in the laboratory. Sleep regularly on the first night (more than 8 hours), and on the second night either sleep normally again or be deprived of sleep all night (but the person is still in bed).
After a night of sleep deprivation, the regulation and activity of the volunteers’ biological clock genes have changed-epigenetic activity (DNA molecules regulate which genes are expressed and which genes are not expressed) has increased, and gene expression levels have changed .
Researchers do not know how long the effect of this genetic modification will last, but the potential long-term effects remind us that it is better to work and rest as regularly as possible!
