Some people seem to crave more sleep; losing even a minute of that precious shut-eye can throw off an entire day. Then there are the others - they're the ones who study all night and ace a test with only a few hours of rest, or the doctors who seem bright-eyed and bushytailed after another all-night shift in the ER.

Those who seem to function just fine on a few hours of sleep may be more than lucky - they may have a genetic mutation that helps them get by.

Ying-Hui Fu, a professor of neurology at the University of California at San Francisco and co-author of a new study on the gene mutation, says about 5% of people can function normally on 6 or less hours of sleep, compared to the 7-9 hours the rest of us need.

Unfortunately, the mutation is quite rare. Only one family out of the 70 families in the UCSF sleep study database carried it - a mother-daughter pair who are fine on 6 hours of sleep compared with the rest of their family.

Fu's dream is to manufacture a drug that allows us to sleep less and function normally, though that's a long way off at the moment. Researchers are still not sure how the gene affect's sleep patterns.

In the meantime, we should remember how important a good night's rest is for those of us not carrying the mutation - benefits include weight loss, healthier looking skin and even longer life!

The Restorative Power of Sleep

Sleep Your Way Slimmer

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Padmini Mangunta

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