An article posted to Life
Scientist on December 16, 2009 claims to have found a genetic link related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research have discovered that the ABCA13 gene is related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A team of scientists, lead by Dr. Allan McRae, analyzed the DNA of a schizophrenic patient and noticed there was a break at the ABCA13 gene. Further tests on other schizophrenic and bipolar patients showed that the ABCA13 gene was malfunctioning in 4% of the participants. Four per cent does not seem like a significant number, but scientists hypothesize that these mental disorders are caused my hundreds of genes. By discovering that the ABCA13 gene is involved, it brings us one step closer to figuring out why schizophrenia and bipolar disorders exist. This is a significant step to understanding how these mental illnesses work, but there is still a long way to go before large strides can be made to cure these illnesses.
This is a very interesting post. It is a huge step in the right direction to finally discovering a cure/better treatments for individuals who suffer from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. As you have stated, it will take a while to find a true cure ;however, this is a helpful discovery.
ReplyDeleteThis is a significant breakthrough. Now it is possible to find a way to eliminate schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Too many people suffer with these two disorders and, for the most part, there isn't a true and ideal way to solve the problem for those people. However, I do wonder what causes the malfunctioning of the ABCA13 gene and how it causes the drastic change in behavior. It could be a chain reaction, like the mutation/ malfunction of one gene that leads to the next. Who knows, at least researchers are delving into the possibilities. By analyzing this gene, and others, there can be more of an understanding for people suffering with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder instead of making the assumptions they are insane and ridiculing them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is the first gene to be associated with either of these disorders but this sounds like a breakthrough nonetheless. If this discovery does not lead to a cure for these diseases than at least maybe a better treatment for them could be developed. Both of these diseases are hereditary and so this discovery could also be useful in determining the likelihood of affected parents passing them on to their children. This breakthrough personally interests me because my father is bipolar and still struggles with his mood swings despite being on Lithium for years; this might offer us some hope that there could possibly be a better treatment for him in the future and it may help me and my brother determine our likelihood of inheriting our father's disease.
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