A multi-institution research team has discovered that rare mutations, which probably affect development in the human nervous system, may significantly increase the risk of schizophrenia. The researchers found that adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and youth with childhood onset schizophrenia (COS) were 3 to 4 times more likely to have rare structural variants that deleted or duplicated one or a few genes. They say that the disrupted genes are “over-represented in pathways important for brain development.
Under the heading “Rare Mutations Hint at Multiple Schizophrenias,” Constance Holden of ScienceNOW Daily News described the finding in this way:
Continue reading ‘Rare mutations may link to EBD’
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