Schizophrenia / en 91Թ researcher part of international study uncovering new schizophrenia risk genes /news/u-t-researcher-part-international-study-uncovering-new-schizophrenia-risk-genes <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">91Թ researcher part of international study uncovering new schizophrenia risk genes</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-25-sick-kids-schizo-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=HLPct-Qq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-11-25-sick-kids-schizo-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=u_akABbY 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-11-25-sick-kids-schizo-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=o4TMpkiz 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-25-sick-kids-schizo-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=HLPct-Qq" alt="Photo of Christian Marshall"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-25T10:12:07-05:00" title="Friday, November 25, 2016 - 10:12" class="datetime">Fri, 11/25/2016 - 10:12</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Christian Marshall, assistant professor in 91Թ's Faculty of Medicine and associate director in genome diagnostics at the Hospital for Sick Children (photo courtesy of SickKids)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/caitlin-johannesson" hreflang="en">Caitlin Johannesson</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Caitlin Johannesson</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mental-illness" hreflang="en">Mental Illness</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/schizophrenia" hreflang="en">Schizophrenia</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/genes" hreflang="en">Genes</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Canadian and international scientists have uncovered six new schizophrenia risk genes in the largest study of its kind.</p> <p>The results of the international Psychiatric Genomics Consortium CNV working group are published in the Nov.&nbsp;21 advance online edition of <a href="http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3725.html">Nature Genetics</a>. They&nbsp;further support the important role genes play in susceptibility to schizophrenia, and may be helpful in early diagnosis.&nbsp;</p> <p>The team built a standardized pipeline to analyze the genes of individuals with schizophrenia as well as healthy controls using microarrays (technology which uses a microchip to determine if a genome has either missing or duplicated pieces of DNA).&nbsp;Researchers reported that individuals with schizophrenia tended to carry more genetic alterations than those in the control group, and these rare genomic copy variations or CNVs tended to affect genes in the synapse (the junction between two nerve cells).&nbsp;</p> <p>“This study represents a milestone. Because of the systematic analysis in a large number of individuals with schizophrenia we were able to implicate several new genes, many of which are in the same biological pathways found in the brain,” says the first author of the paper <strong>Christian Marshall</strong>, assistant professor in 91Թ's department of laboratory medicine and pathology and associate director in genome diagnostics and The Centre for Applied Genomics at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). “Making the connection between these common pathways can lead to development of targeted therapies for schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions.”</p> <p>The study included over 40,000 people and more than 170 scientists and clinicians from across North America and Europe.&nbsp;</p> <p>Schizophrenia is diagnosed in one in 100 people and is a chronic and severe psychiatric condition that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves with onset in late teens or early adulthood. Previous studies of genomic copy number variation (CNV), which are duplications and deletions in the genes, have established an important role for rare genetic variants in the etiology of schizophrenia, but many studies are underpowered to robustly confirm these genetic associations.&nbsp;</p> <p>Like many mental illnesses you can’t just take an x-ray or simple blood test to confirm a diagnosis, says Marshall, who is part of 91Թ's Faculty of Medicine. With this research, clinicians have genetic tools to help find more definitive answers as to whether a patient carries the risk genes for schizophrenia. The hope is this standardized pipeline will also accelerate discoveries for other conditions.&nbsp;</p> <p>The team was co-led by 91Թ Professor <strong>Stephen Scherer</strong>, senior scientist and director of the Centre for Applied Genomics at SickKids and the McLaughlin Centre at the 91Թ and Jonathan Sebat, director of Beyster Center for Psychiatric Genomics and professor in the department of psychiatry at the&nbsp;University of California San Diego's School of Medicine.&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="/news/unlocking-autisms-code-professor-stephen-scherer">Read about Professor Scherer's research on autism</a></h3> <p>The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium began in early 2007, and it includes over 800 investigators from 38 countries. The PGC is the largest consortium and the largest biological experiment in the history of psychiatry. Core funding for the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium is from the US National Institute of Mental Health.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Caitlin Johannesson is a senior communications specialist with <a href="http://www.sickkids.ca/">SickKids</a>&nbsp;</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 25 Nov 2016 15:12:07 +0000 ullahnor 102576 at