Sleep helps to repair damaged DNA in neurons, scientists find

Scientists have discovered that broken DNA builds up in brain cells in the daytime and repair work reverses the damage only during sleep. Having spotted the effect in zebrafish, the researchers want to study mice to see if chromosome movement and DNA repair matches brain activity linked to different phases of sleep in mammals. The work follows a January study by Siu-Wai Choi at Hong Kong University who used blood samples to show that sleep deprivation led to more DNA damage in doctors.

Source: www.theguardian.com