This Gene Helps Explain Why Some People Can Get By on Little Sleep

Natural short sleepers seem to have won the genetic lottery, which allows them to thrive on very little sleep. (Credit: Shutterstock) Your sleep needs are probably influenced by your genes.It's a new way of thinking about sleep that's gaining steam, thanks to a rare group of people known as natural short sleepers, or those who can function normally on less than six hours of sleep a night. And now, a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco -- who identified the fi