?有些人每天睡9個小時，白天上班還是在犯困；有人只睡4、5個小時，卻能全天精力充沛，效率超高。到底為什么會這樣呢？研究人員說，是基因的問題。

Researchers recently discovered a gene that regulates the duration of sleep an individual needs. The new findings may explain why some people appear to have an internal alarm clock, and can wake up on their own. It may also explain why some people are light sleepers, able to operate on only a few hours of sleep.

研究人員最近發現了一種能夠管理人們所需睡眠時間長短的基因。這一新發現或許能解釋，為什么有些人好像有個內置的鬧鐘，總能自己定點醒來；而有的人每天只睡幾個小時卻依然精力充沛。

The research was conducted by members of the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) of Munich. The gene the team identified is called ABCC9 and has been nicknamed the “Thatcher gene” in honor of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, famous for needing as little as four hours of sleep a night.

該研究是由慕尼黑大學的研究人員進行的。他們發現的這個基因叫做ABCC9，后被人以前英國首相撒切爾夫人的名字命名，戲稱為“撒切爾基因”，因為撒切爾夫人以睡眠時間少而著稱，每天的睡眠時間只有四個小時。

Researchers discovered that people who had two copies of one common variant of ABCC9 slept for ‘significantly shorter’ periods than people with two copies of another version.

研究人員發現，體內有兩組ABCC9基因變種的人比其他人的睡眠時間“明顯縮短”。

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）

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