The DNA breaks caused by working and studying during the day can be repaired by sleeping at night!

The older I get, the harder it is to get a good night's sleep.

Sleep takes up one-third of a person's entire time, and there is a reason for this, because sleep can maintain the normal rhythm of hormone secretion, reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and even keep our skin hydrated and smooth.

A recent study found that the sleep process also helps the body repair DNA damage.

The core of human life is DNA. DNA is replicating in cells every moment. It is inevitable that DNA is facing the risk of breakage at all times.

When we study or work hard during the day, a large number of DNA breaks will occur. Certain drugs such as oxaliplatin can also cause cell death by inducing DNA breaks.

The longer you work or study every day and the more focused you are, the more DNA will be broken.

Although DNA ensures the efficient functioning of the human body during the day, broken DNA is like a time bomb that can cause cell death or cancer at any time.

What should we do then?

Scientists conducted an experiment on zebrafish. They caused DNA damage to the fish. When the DNA damage accumulated to the maximum, the fish felt tired and sleepy, which triggered the urge to sleep, and the fish entered a sleeping state.

Sleep then promotes DNA repair, thereby reducing DNA damage.

The study found that 6 hours of sleep per night is enough to reduce DNA damage. If the sleep is less than 6 hours, DNA damage will not be fully reduced. Zebrafish will continue to sleep even during the day, reducing DNA damage by napping.

Soon after, scientists discovered that a protein called PARP1 is responsible for DNA damage repair. PARP1 marks DNA damage sites in cells and recruits other molecules to repair DNA damage.

They also found that increasing PARP1 not only promoted sleep, but also increased DNA repair during sleep.

Sleeping itself is a necessary activity to maintain a healthy body, and not getting enough sleep will have adverse effects on the body.

If you take a nap at work, you may be paying the price for staying up late to watch TV series.

And for those super people who work hard for their jobs, livelihoods and dreams, after reading this study, will you continue to stay up late and work overtime at night?

doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.10.026.