Same Genetic Basis Found in 5 Types of Mental Disorders

Kolata, Gina. "Study Finds Genetic Risk Factors Shared by 5 Psychiatric Disorders." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/health/study-finds-genetic-risk-factors-shared-by-5-psychiatric-disorders.html?hp>.    

This study focused on 5 different disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, major depression, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Despite the great differences in their symptoms and manifestations, they all have the same genetic basis. The article does not detail what this basis is, but on in the original paper published by the scientists, they describe four different loci to surpass the cutoff for genome-wide significance. The study found that these loci held genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms conferring a small risk of psychiatric disorders. For two of them, it is not clear what genes are involved or what they do, but the other two, though, involve genes that are part of calcium channels, which are used when neurons send signals in the brain. Cross-Disorder Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, a group of scientists, conducted this research. These findings were all made possible by the increase in availability of genetic information databases. The researchers used genetic data generated by studies in 19 countries and including 33,332 people with psychiatric illnesses and 27,888 people free of the illnesses for comparison. The researchers labored over people’s DNA, looking for variations in a long stretch of genetic material containing three billion DNA bases.

            This research can have a huge impact on how we see mental disorders. Two of the aberrations discovered in the new study were in genes used in a major signaling system in the brain, giving clues to processes that might go awry and suggestions of how to treat the diseases. Scientists can now aim to make diagnoses based on the genetic aberrations underlying diseases instead of on the disease symptoms. This is a great leap forward and can have visible, substantial effects in the field of mental health disorders.

            I believe that the author did a very good job explaining the treatment and its implications. However, she sometimes explained things to vaguely, leaving several questions unanswered. At times, her progression of ideas was confusing as well. She did do a mediocre job explaining how the treatment works. One positive is that most scientific articles describing treatments are difficult to understand and follow, but her explanation was clear and comprehendible.