FLICKR, MARCO CASTELLANI
At least half of schizophrenia patients who have no family history of the disorder harbor de novo mutations, according to research published online on Sunday (August 7) in Nature Genetics, suggesting genetics may play a role even when the disease is not inherited. Specifically, researchers sequenced the exomes, or protein-coding DNA, of 53 patients with seemingly non-inherited cases of schizophrenia—meaning they had no immediate family members nor aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews or grandparents who had the disease—as well as 22 unaffected individuals and the parents of these subjects. In 27 of the schizophrenia patients, they identified 40 new mutations in 40 different genes, including one in DGCR2, a gene located in a region of chromosome 22 known to be associated with schizophrenia.
"The fact that ...
