Converging on Genes for Schizophrenia

Researchers have not identified a causative gene for schizophrenia, a group of disorders with complex interactions between genetically and epigenetically influenced traits. Unlike most studies using single lines of investigation, this landmark series of experiments used data on animals, humans, autopsies, and electrophysiology that converged on a core feature of schizophrenia.

First, the researchers studied single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 10 candidate genes in 170 European families with offspring who had schizophrenia. The most robust association with schizophrenia risk was in a region in chromosome 7 that codes for the voltage-activated delayed-rectifier potassium channel KCNH2. In healthy unrelated subjects, three KCNH2 SNPs were…