Are Your Genes Literally Keeping You Up At Night? Researchers Say They Might Be!

In New York, researchers at Rockefeller University say your genetic makeup can actually be keeping you awake at night. Due to a newly discovered gene mutation, some people’s internal clocks can be off because of the variant in their CRY1 gene. But don’t run out and get a genetic test quite yet, as there is no approved medical test to show if you have it yet. While some people are night owls because of the artificial light from phones, tablets, computers and TV that make it harder for them to fall asleep at night, it could very well be that some people can’t go to sleep at night due to this genetic mutation. Alina Patke, lead author of the study and Research Associate in the Laboratory of Genetics at The Rockefeller University, told Associations Now, “Carriers of the mutation have longer days than the planet gives them, so they are essentially playing catch-up for their entire lives.”