Researchers have implicated 10 risk genes in the development of schizophrenia using a method called whole exome sequencing, the analysis of the portion of DNA that codes for proteins. Working with a global consortium of schizophrenia research teams, Tarjinder Singh, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow affiliated with the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues completed one of the largest of such studies so far, incorporating genetic data from over 125,000 people to gain deeper insights into the genetic underpinnings of schizophrenia. The research was presented on October 15 as a featured plenary presentation (https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/page.php?page=IntHtml&project=ASHG19&id=1922937) at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2019 Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas (October 15-19). The presentation was titled “Exome Sequencing of 25,000 Schizophrenia Cases and 100,000 Controls Implicates 10 Risk Genes, and Provides Insight into Shared and Distinct Genetic Risk and Biology with Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders.” “The main aim of our research is to understand the genetic causes of schizophrenia and motivate the development of new therapeutics,” said Dr. Singh. “Drug development for schizophrenia has had limited progress in the last 50 years, but, in the last decade, we have started to make genetic discoveries that help us better understand the mechanisms underlying the disorder.”Login Or Register To Read Full Story