Scientists Reveal The Reason You Can't Get Out Of Bed In The Morning

Some people like to get up early, and others like to sleep in. It's usually been put down to laziness.. until now!

A recent study has proved that a person’s biological clock, related behavior and inherent preferences are genetic.

A fruit fly has a similar “genetic clock” to a human. Researchers also identified nearly 80 variants possibly playing roles in one’s sleep-and-wake preferences.

They found the genes weren’t more active at different times of the day as they previously believed. Instead, the entire genetic makeup of a fly that is active in the morning was different than the makeup of one that was more active in the evening.

Dr. Eran Tauber, one of the study’s coauthors, explained,

[Looking] at the gene expression was only part of our research. An obvious question is what causes the different expression in the larks [early risers] and owls [late nighters]. This difference is largely due to genetic variations in their DNA sequences — different gene versions that are present in larks and owls.

The end point might be similar, but the different molecular routes result in a different journey time.

The researchers argue, given the findings, the nine-to-five structure is likely inefficient for many.

- Image: Getty Images