Humans need almost 8 hours of sleep per day. Some people enjoy sleeping (like me!), but when you think about it, sleeping for a third of your lifetime sounds like a awful waste of time :(. Now scientists at the University of Wisconsin have discovered a possible mutation in a single gene in the fruit-fly (Drosophila Melanogaster) genome, that allows the flies to get 30% less sleep than their normal counterparts!
The finding is important, as it might point to possible mutations in the human genome that might help us control sleep, and also shed light on human sleep needs. This fruit-fly gene has a counterpart in animal (and human) genome; so such a mutation might just be possible in humans too :).

Fruit Fly (Courtesy: University of Guelph)Chiara Cirelli and colleagues discovered that flies with one particular gene variant, dubbed minisleep, needed only 3 or 4 hours’ rest per day, compared to 10 to 12 hours for a normal fly. The most interesting part: the flies, despite all the sleep deprivation, showed no sign of impairment.
They were also able to go without any sleep for much longer periods of time. The minisleep mutation is in a gene called Shaker, which codes for a protein that forms part of an ion channel in nerve cells. The same protein is found in mammals, and might serve the same function as in flies.
If we were able to conquer sleep, it might be helpful in a lot of ways. In particular, it will help those among us who always feel sleepy (including some of the readers here :D:D, you know who you are!), and also help people working odd or late hours, and of course the military might be really interested.