Waking up is hard to do: Scientists identify a gene important for the daily rhythms of the sleep-wake cycle

Scientists have discovered a new mechanism in the core gears of the circadian clock. They found the loss of a certain gene, dubbed "twenty-four," messes up the rhythm of the common fruit fly's sleep-wake cycle, making it harder for the flies to awaken. The circadian clock drives, among other things, when an organism wakes up and when it sleeps. While the study was done using Drosophila melanogaster, the findings have implications for humans.

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