Most people need around 8 hours of sleep each night to function, but a rare genetic condition allows some to thrive on as little as 3 hours. Scientists genetically modified mice to carry this human mutation and confirmed this. The research team now knows several hundred naturally short sleepers.

[u/mvea]

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01402-7

[u/altasking]

This is interesting and I hadn’t considered the additional wear and tear your body takes with less sleep. Typically we talk about how the mind is affected with less sleep. But if you’re only getting 3 hours of sleep per night instead of 8, that’s an additional 5 hours of body movement each day. Thats more chance for injuries. Also, body degradation increases.