When Katelynn O’Connell takes her lunch break at work, she follows a routine that sets her apart from other employees. Each day at noon, she unfolds a cot in her small office, turns on a white noise machine, and takes a 30-minute nap.

O’Connell has narcolepsy, a rare disorder that makes it difficult for people to stay awake during the day, disrupts their sleep at night, and, in some cases, causes sudden muscle weakness that makes them collapse. Since narcolepsy was first described in medical literature more than a century ago, people like O’Connell could only hope to treat its symptoms, leaving them vulnerable to the chronic sleepiness, depression, and feelings of isolation that mark the disease.

But the outlook for O’Connell and some 3 million people with narcolepsy worldwide — includin

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