Scientists Study Fruit Flies for Secret to Good Sleep

Researchers are studying the impact of sleep on insomniac fruit flies to see how they can help humans.

Neurobiologist Paul Shaw, Ph.D., from Washington University in St. Louis, says of all animals, Shaw says fruit fly genes are easy to manipulate.

"I can take a human gene that's involved in patterning your hand, I can take that human gene and put it in a fly and I get a wing," explained Shaw.

Shaw takes flies that are missing the gene responsible for memory and puts them to sleep for two days, either with drugs or by using light to activate brain neurons. When they wake up, the flies behave normally.

"These animals are still broken, the gene is still missing, the brain structure is gone. Somehow sleep has allowed the brain to adapt and do interesting things," Shaw said.

The research from the Washington University School of Medicine has shown that getting more sleep can help the brain withstand severe neurological defects that may block the formation of memories.

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

Although scientists have yet to figure out a way to induce this specific type of sleep in humans, they are hopeful that in the future it could have therapeutic potential.

The cost of insufficient sleep is much higher than most people recognize.

Sleep loss and poor sleep quality can lead to an increase in errors at the workplace, decreased productivity and accidents that cost both lives and resources, according to experts at Harvard.