News Life A gene for a short night’s sleep Genetic variation reduces amount of shut-eye in some people and in experiments on mice and fruit flies By Tina Hesman Saey August 13, 2009 at 3:10 pm - More than 2 years ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print Some people have an excuse for getting only six hours of shut-eye each night. One of their genes makes them do it. Two people who both sleep about six hours and 15 minutes per night have a rare variation of a gene called DEC2.