An international team of researchers has found that the cause of schizophrenia is more complex than already believed, with rare gene mutations contributing to the disorder. In two studies published in the journal Nature, they show that schizophrenia arises from the combined effects of many genes.
Blood DNA taken from 6,948 people in Bulgaria and Sweden was catalogued, including patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, their parents, and healthy controls. Scientists were able to pinpoint the sites of gene mutations and identify patterns that reveal clues about the biology underlying schizophrenia. Rather than finding only a few “faulty” genes, the two studies determine that the genetic basis of schizophrenia is tremendously complex. The data confirms that a very large number of rare genetic mutations contribute to risk of developing the disorder.
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