Dying to sleep.

About 30 families in the world carry a killer gene that will condemn them at some point in their life to a deadly perpetual insomnia - the condition is known as fatal familial insomnia. The disease was first brought to light by Dr Ignazio Roiter in Venice in the 1970s when he encountered a family who each became afflicted with the condition - he realised there was a genetic link. Roiter talks in detail about his work with the family. One of the younger sons, Silvano, allowed his condition to be recorded by neurologists in Bologna - some of this footage is shown. EEG recordings show that although he had frequent periods of REM sleep, it was the total loss of deep sleep which led to his death. This documentary follows one particular family, the White family from Maine, who have had many deaths in their family from the condition and who recently lost their father, Rick, to the condition. Rick's children, Meghan and Andy, are in a dilemma as to whether or not they want to find out if they carry the faulty gene. They undergo a series of neurological tests but decide not to find out whether or not they carry the gene.