This Scientific Breakthrough Could Cure Jet Lag Forever

The longest flights in the world are just getting longer. Emirates’ latest route from Dubai to Auckland clocks in at a startling 16.5 hours flying east and 17.5 hours on the way back—it’s the lengthiest flight on the market. Qantas plans to launch a new 17-hour route between Perth and London in 2018. But painful as long-haul flights can be, it’s their aftermath—jet lag—that you should really be dreading.

That might soon change, though. The medical community has taken the next step toward finding a jet-lag cure, thanks to a Salk Institute study published last year in Cell. According to Dr. Ronald Evans, the lead author of the study, a protein called Rev-ErbA (pronounced ree-verb-AY) may be the key to unlocking a regular, healthy circadian rhythm no matter where (or when) in the world you are.