In a paper published in the journal Science, the researchers demonstrated that by disrupting the information shared between the approximately 10,000 brain cells that make up the body clock and control the physical responses to the passage of time, the leap to a new time zone can be completed in a matter of hours instead of days.

Scientists estimate that it takes the average person one day to adjust to every one-hour change in time zone.

The tests have only been carried out on mice so far, Dr Hitoshi Okamura told The Telegraph, but he is optimistic the challenges to applying the discovery to the circadian rhythm in humans can be overcome.

“Usually it is very hard for mice to overcome the effects of jet lag but we were able to make them recover very quickly indeed,” he said. “We need to do further research to overcome some problems, on toxicity concerns surrounding the vasopressin receptors and so on, but it will be possible to apply this to humans.”