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New findings in the genetics of major psychoses.

ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have a largely unknown pathophysiology and etiology, but they are highly heritable. Although linkage and association studies have identified a series of chromosomal regions likely to contain susceptibility genes, progress in identifying causative genes has been largely disappointing. However, rapid technological advances are beginning to lead to new insights. Systematic genome-wide association and follow-up studies have reported genome-wide significant association findings of common variants for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The risk conferred by individual variants is small, and some variants confer a risk for both disorders. In addition, recent studies have identified rare, large structural variants (copy number variants) that confer a greater risk for schizophrenia. This review summarizes recent developments in genetic research into schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and discusses possible future directions in this field.

SUBMITTER: Nothen MM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3181946 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New findings in the genetics of major psychoses.

Nöthen Markus M MM Nieratschker Vanessa V Cichon Sven S Rietschel Marcella M

Dialogues in clinical neuroscience 20100101 1

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have a largely unknown pathophysiology and etiology, but they are highly heritable. Although linkage and association studies have identified a series of chromosomal regions likely to contain susceptibility genes, progress in identifying causative genes has been largely disappointing. However, rapid technological advances are beginning to lead to new insights. Systematic genome-wide association and follow-up studies have reported genome-wide significant associat ...[more]

PMID: 20373670

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New findings in the genetics of major psychoses.

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New findings in the genetics of major psychoses.

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