Spontaneous Mutations Rife In Nonfamilial Schizophrenia
Friday, May 30, 2008 - 14:21
in Health & Medicine
People with schizophrenia from families with no history of the illness were found to harbor eight times more spontaneous mutations -- most in pathways affecting brain development -- than healthy controls. By contrast, no spontaneous mutations were found in people with schizophrenia who had family histories of the illness. The findings strongly suggest that rare, spontaneous mutations likely contribute to vulnerability in cases of schizophrenia from previously unaffected families.