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Having an irregular and topsy-turvy sleep cycle causes havoc deep inside our DNA, according to new study. 

The findings of the study also give a plausible explanation of why jet lag makes us feel lousy. 

The researchers at Surrey University considered 22 healthy men and women for the study. The delayed the bedtime of the subjects by four hours a day for three days, until going to sleep when they would normally wake up and vice versa. 

Upon a blood test, they found that while they slept normally, rhythmical genes, which wake up 6 per cent of the total were timed to be more or less active at certain times of the day. 

For example, few genes that worked in defense for the body against diseases, worked harder during the day than compared at night. 

However, on a night-shift pattern, sleeping during the day while staying awake at night the rhythm was 'profoundly disrupted'. 

"Over 97 per cent of rhythmical genes become out of synch with mistimed sleep and this really explains why we feel so bad during jet lag or if we have to work irregular shifts," said Researcher Dr Simon Archer, according to BBC. 

Another researcher, Professor Derk-Jan Dijk described the effect as 'chaos'. "This research may help us understand the negative effects associated with shift work, jet lag and other conditions in which the rhythms of our genes are disrupted," added Dijk. 

Other experts believed that the big effect that occurred just after a few weeks of disrupted sleep is just surprising and added that these genetic chaos could also lead to many heath problems in long run. 

Previously, the shift work has been also linked to breast cancer. The World Health Organization ranked night-working one rung below asbestos and smoking in the category of potential triggers that caused cancer. 

The findings of the study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.