Police understand the importance of sleep—but for many, the nature of the job makes it hard to get enough of it.

A new study from The University of Texas at Arlington, published in Policing: An International Journal, explores how sleep deprivation affects police and their performance on the job.

Inside each cell of the human body are proteins that control which genes are expressed at the right place and time. However, intriguingly, many of the most important proteins involved in gene regulation lack stable structure. Exactly how these disorganized molecules give rise to precise gene expression has become a highly debated question in the field of molecular biology. Now, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that key components of this machinery instead rely on a structured “bridge” protein to interact and carry out gene activation.