The Genetic Architecture of Bipolar Disorder

      The National Institute of Mental Health recently conducted a study on a diverse demographic of people who have bipolar disorder, and those who don't. It currently is the largest genome-wide study of bipolar disorder, with a total of 158,036 people with bipolar disorder and 2,796,499 people without the disorder. People across the globe took part in the study, and roughly 300 gene locations and 36 unique gene locations were identified and believed to be linked to the disorder. The heritability of the disease is very high, with reports of it being as high as 60-80%. Researchers believed the differences in genetic ancestry and bipolar disorder subtypes can lead to the different genetic architecture of bipolar disorder. 

It was discovered that there were exactly 298 significant bipolar disorder associated loci, an increase in discovery of bipolar disorder in comparison to previous findings, and an ancestry-specific association in the East Asian cohort. Bipolar disorder can be very polarizing due to the stigma surrounding it, even with 2.8% of American adults being affected by it. Many of the genetic and environmental factors effecting bipolar disorder were shared among individuals with the condition. The genetic architecture of bipolar disorder is different because it's heavily affected by the concentration of the subtype present. Hopefully through the use of linkage maps, more studies can be done on the loci associated with bipolar disorder and the possible prevention for it.