deCODE You

deCODE-led Megastudy Finds New Genetic Clues to Causes of Schizophrenia. Findings expand knowledge of the biology of the disease and provide potential new drug targets.

The largest study of the genetics of schizophrenia ever undertaken has revealed several new common single-letter variants in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) linked to risk of the disease. The study, by a multinational consortium of scientists led by a team from deCODE genetics, analyzed the genomes of more than 50,000 patients and control participants from fourteen countries. It is published today in the online edition of Nature.
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deCODE and SGENE Consortium Discover Deletions in the Human Genome Linked to Risk of Schizophrenia

Findings may provide the foundation for a test to complement standard clinical diagnosis, potentially enabling earlier intervention and treatment

A team of scientists led by deCODE genetics has discovered evidence of three rare deletions in the human genome that confer a greater risk of schizophrenia. This discovery shows that individuals who have one of these deletions may be up to 15 times more likely to develop schizophrenia than the population at large. See “Large recurrent microdeletions associated with schizophrenia” which appeared this afternoon in Nature (www.nature.com)

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