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Searching for Susceptibility Genes in Schizophrenia

  • Conference paper
Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia

Abstract

If human molecular genetics is to have a major impact on medicine then it must allow us to identify the genetic mechanisms underlying susceptibility to common illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis and the major forms of mental illness. However, these disorders pose challenges to the geneticist because in the majority of cases they result from the action of both genetic and environmental factors. Moreover, the genetic component probably consists of the combined action of several, and in some cases many, genes, each of which may result in only a modest increase or decrease in liability. In addition, the number of susceptibility loci, the disease risk conferred by each locus, and the degree of interaction between loci all remain unknown. Thus many of the problems faced by geneticists studying psychiatric disorders also confront those working on other common diseases (Todd and Far rail 1996). However, in psychiatry genetic complexity is compounded by phenotypic complexity. It is rarely possible to make psychiatric diagnoses on the basis of physical examination or laboratory tests or even to confirm them post mortem, and for many disorders we have little idea of pathogenic mechanisms. In spite of these difficulties, the use of structured and semi-structured interviews together with explicit operational diagnostic criteria means that it is often possible to achieve high degrees of diagnostic reliability, and in several instances including schizophrenia define syndromes with high heritabilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychiatric Genetics Unit, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK

    M. J. Owen

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  1. M. J. Owen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, P.O. Box 3671, 05403-010, São Paul, SP, Brazil

    Wagner F. Gattaz M.D. (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

  2. University of Heidelberg, Germany

    Heinz Häfner (Prof. em. of Psychiatry, Director em., Head) (Prof. em. of Psychiatry, Director em., Head)

  3. Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany

    Heinz Häfner (Prof. em. of Psychiatry, Director em., Head) (Prof. em. of Psychiatry, Director em., Head)

  4. Schizophrenia Research Unit, P.O.Box 122 120, 68072, Mannheim, Germany

    Heinz Häfner (Prof. em. of Psychiatry, Director em., Head) (Prof. em. of Psychiatry, Director em., Head)

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© 1999 Dr. Dietrich Steinkopff Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Darmstadt

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Owen, M.J. (1999). Searching for Susceptibility Genes in Schizophrenia. In: Gattaz, W.F., Häfner, H. (eds) Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia. Steinkopff. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-47076-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-47076-9_11

  • Publisher Name: Steinkopff

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-47078-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-47076-9

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