Scientists link schizophrenia to rare genetic phenomena
The language of DNA, which is unique to each person, is written in our cells. In DNA, a tandem repeat is when one or more nucleotides (the basic structural units of DNA) are repeated in tandem. These include cytosine(c), adenine(A), guanine(G), and thymine(T). A good example would be CAG CAG – the pattern CAG repeated three times.
The UNC School of Medicine laboratory of Jin Szatkiewicz Ph.D. associate professor of genetics and his colleagues have conducted the largest and most comprehensive investigation of tandem repeats and schizophrenia. They have elucidated their role in the development of this deadly disease.
The research, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry shows that schizophrenia patients have a higher rate of rare tandem repetitions in their genomes – 7% more than those without schizophrenia. They also observed that tandem repeats are not distributed randomly throughout the genome. Instead, they are primarily located in genes critical to brain function. Previous studies have shown that these genes play a role in schizophrenia.
Source:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-11-scientists-link-rare-genetic-phenomenon.html
Leave a Reply