Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,607
- 910
Schizophrenia tends to run in families, which suggests it’s largely inherited. But a long-running search for genes underlying this severe psychiatric condition has yielded only indirect clues. Now, by scouring the DNA of tens of thousands of people, gene hunters have for the first time nabbed a handful of rare genes that, when mutated, appear to be direct contributors to the disease—and may shed light on what goes awry in a schizophrenia patient’s brain.
....Taking a different approach, human geneticists have for years examined DNA markers spread along the genome to find the ones more common in people with schizophrenia than in those without the disease. By now these genomewide association studies (GWASs) have found more than 270 markers in stretches of DNA that regulate genes. But tying a marker to a specific gene and untangling the gene’s role in disease is slow, painstaking work.
Intensive DNA search yields 10 genes tied directly to schizophrenia
But, there are another 30 genes with a tentative connection to schizophrenia that overlap with autism. This is pretty cool.
autism.
....Taking a different approach, human geneticists have for years examined DNA markers spread along the genome to find the ones more common in people with schizophrenia than in those without the disease. By now these genomewide association studies (GWASs) have found more than 270 markers in stretches of DNA that regulate genes. But tying a marker to a specific gene and untangling the gene’s role in disease is slow, painstaking work.
Intensive DNA search yields 10 genes tied directly to schizophrenia
But, there are another 30 genes with a tentative connection to schizophrenia that overlap with autism. This is pretty cool.
autism.
