Hundreds of genes linked to schizophrenia, with unclear implications

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Scientists have identified hundreds of regions of the human genome that are linked with schizophrenia. These findings are exciting because they provide clues to the biological basis of this devastating disorder – clues that may ultimately help us to develop better treatments. However, attempts to understand how genes contribute to the symptoms that patients experience reveal how complex – and poorly understood – the human brain is.

Schizophrenia affects about 1 in 100 people and patients can suffer from hallucinations, delusions and problems with social interactions. There is no cure and although drugs are available that treat some of the symptoms they can have unpleasant side effects, and they don’t work for everyone.

Many of the genetic differences that increase a person’s risk of developing schizophrenia are common in the general population. These differences consist of single “letter” changes in the DNA sequence that “tag” regions of the genome and, presumably, nearby genes, as being important in schizophrenia. Over 100 tags have now been linked to schizophrenia and it is likely that more remain to be discovered.

The challenge now is to understand why these tagged regions are linked with illness. Genes encode proteins, not the delusions, hallucinations and other complex symptoms that patients with schizophrenia experience.

Read full, original post: Is schizophrenia written in our genes?

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