Document Type
Poster Session
Department
Southern Maine Community College
Faculty Mentor
Daniel Moore, PhD
Keywords
Schizophrenia, Genetics, DNA
Abstract
Schizophrenia has been considered heritable for a long time, but only with the advent of new technologies such as whole-genome sequencing and genome-wide association studies can we begin to identify specific molecular causes of schizophrenia. This poster will review some of the genetic variants that research groups have associated with schizophrenia. Current research has indicated that schizophrenia is a polygenic disease and has been linked to many genes. Some of these common risk variants are in protein coding sections of the DNA. These proteins are often linked to neurological development or immune system function. Other variants that have been associated with schizophrenia are copy number variants (CNV’s), DNA repeats that vary in length. Certain changes to the length of these CNV’s, either through deletion, insertion, duplication or translocation have been associated with schizophrenia. These associations may help researchers identify new protein coding regions of DNA that have been changed. Identifying these genes can help us better understand how schizophrenia is inherited and it may also allow us to detect and monitor high risk patients or lead to new treatment options that enable regular function of these proteins.
Open Access?
1
Understanding The Genetics Of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia has been considered heritable for a long time, but only with the advent of new technologies such as whole-genome sequencing and genome-wide association studies can we begin to identify specific molecular causes of schizophrenia. This poster will review some of the genetic variants that research groups have associated with schizophrenia. Current research has indicated that schizophrenia is a polygenic disease and has been linked to many genes. Some of these common risk variants are in protein coding sections of the DNA. These proteins are often linked to neurological development or immune system function. Other variants that have been associated with schizophrenia are copy number variants (CNV’s), DNA repeats that vary in length. Certain changes to the length of these CNV’s, either through deletion, insertion, duplication or translocation have been associated with schizophrenia. These associations may help researchers identify new protein coding regions of DNA that have been changed. Identifying these genes can help us better understand how schizophrenia is inherited and it may also allow us to detect and monitor high risk patients or lead to new treatment options that enable regular function of these proteins.
