This article discusses a study performed by Dr.John Capra at the University of California. In his study, he looked at the link between Neanderthal DNA and people who like waking up early in the morning. Capra hypothesized that this is because the human population is said to have started in Africa. As migration took place and humans moved farther from the equator they began adapting to the changes in sunlight throughout time. Capra also found that this gene not only affects the time that people wake up but also their appetite and metabolism. Although this experiment doesn’t provide life-changing information for most, the article states that it brings us one step closer to understanding how Neanderthal DNA affects humans today.
I found this article very interesting because I have never thought about my genes affecting my ability to wake up in the morning. I also noticed that the study was conducted using limited amounts of volunteers from only one part of the world. This could largely affect that data due to the lack of diversity in the study. This could pose questions such as, do these genes affect some people more than others? And, as mentioned in the article does a person's geographical location affect a person's sleep schedule? I am interested to see what kind of discoveries this experiment leads to.
I never thought my genes could affect if I'm a night owl or early riser either but is is interesting to think about! I agree with your comment about not having enough diversity in the study as it could majorly affect the results. I am curious to see if future research is done on this topic!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting question. I never thought that genetics could determine if someone is an early bird or a night owl, but it kind of makes sense because how our bodies regulate in our daily lives has to do with our genes and certain traits that we inherited. But I am interested in knowing more about this topic and what kind of studies researchers will discover in the future.
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