“撒切尔”基因让人每天仅睡4小时

 　　A gene¹ that controls how long we sleep has been discovered by scientists explaining why some people have their own internal alarm clock.

　　Scientists identified a gene called ABCC9 that can reduce the length of time we sleep. The same gene has previously² been linked to heart disease and diabetes³.

　　The discovery could explain why light sleepers⁴, such as Margaret Thatcher⁵, are able to get by on just four hours shut-eye a night.

　　The Europe-wide study saw 4,000 people from seven different EU countries fill out a questionnaire assessing their sleep habits.

　　Scientists then analysed their answers, as well as participants' genes⁶.

　　“撒切尔”基因让人每天仅睡4小时

　　They discovered that people who had two copies of one common variant⁷ of ABCC9 slept for "significantly shorter" periods.

　　Having already established that the ABCC9 gene was also present in fruitflies, the team were able to modify it in the animal and shorten the length of time for which it slept.

　　Study author Dr Karla Allebrandt, from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich said: ''The ABCC9 gene is evolutionarily ancient, as a similar gene is present in fruitflies. Fruitflies also exhibit sleep-like behaviour. "

　　"When we blocked the function of the ABCC9 homolog in the fly nervous system, the duration of nocturnal sleep was shortened."

　　据英国《每日邮报》11月25日报道，科学家们发现了一种能控制人睡眠时间长短的基因，这解释了为什么一些人拥有自己私人的生物钟。

　　科学家们发现了一种名为ABCC9的基因能缩短我们的睡眠时间。先前的研究发现同样的基因与心脏病和糖尿病有所关联。

　　这一研究可以解释为什么像玛格丽特-撒切尔(英国前首相)一样的浅眠者能够每晚只睡4个小时。

　　一项欧洲研究调查了来自7个不同欧盟国家的4000名研究对象，研究人员让他们填写了一份关于个人睡眠习惯的调查问卷。

　　之后科学家们分析了参与者的答案与基因。

　　他们发现拥有两个ABCC9基因变体的人睡眠时间明显较短。

　　ABCC9基因的既定作用在果蝇身上也得到了证实。该研究小组能修改果蝇的这种基因并缩短其睡眠时间。

　　该研究的主创人、来自慕尼黑大学的卡尔拉-阿莱勃朗特博士说：“ABCC9基因是由一种古老的基因进化而来的，在果蝇体内发现了和它类似的一种基因。果蝇也表现出了类似于睡觉一样的行为。”

　　“当我们阻碍了果蝇神经系统中类似ABCC9的同种基因发挥作用时，果蝇的夜间睡眠时间就缩短了。”

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

5 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

7 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。