Exome Sequences Reveal Role for De Novo Mutations in Schizophrenia | GenomeWeb Daily News | Sequencing | GenomeWeb

Exome Sequences Reveal Role for De Novo Mutations in Schizophrenia

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Individuals with sporadic schizophrenia tend to carry more new, potentially deleterious, genetic changes than individuals in the general population, according to an exome sequencing study of schizophrenia-affected families that appeared online in Nature Genetics yesterday.

"The occurrence of de novo mutations, as observed in this study, may in part explain the high worldwide incidence of schizophrenia," co-senior author Guy Rouleau, a researcher at the University of Montreal and director of its CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, said in a statement.

Author: I have wondered if there's any evolutionary significance for keeping schizo genes in a gene pool. But I guess, it would be hard to find such evidence now that it appears that de novo mutations contribute to the disease.