Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Institute of Genetics (Bridge Funding)

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric illness that affects about 1 in 100 people. Genetic changes are likely to cause many forms of schizophrenia. Changes in the structure of the human genome, such as copy number changes, are a newly discovered type of genetic change. The genetic code that makes up the human genome is like a recipe that tells the cells in every part of the human body how to develop and how to work throughout life. Copy number changes act like a paragraph missing, or a paragraph duplicated, in the genetic code (DNA). Recent studies have shown that certain large copy number changes can be expressed as schizophrenia and other diseases related to changes in normal development. The research team will have recruited, assessed and obtained DNA samples from 600 people with schizophrenia. In this study, they will use these DNA samples and advanced genetic technology to find copy number changes that may cause schizophrenia. Information from the assessments of the people with schizophrenia, and their immediate family members, as well as software programs to analyze gene pathways, will be essential to help interpret the genetic changes found in the lab. Results from this study should help improve understanding about the changes to genes that predispose to schizophrenia in the general population. Improved knowledge about these genetic changes and the gene pathways involved will shed light on the brain changes that lead to schizophrenia. Eventually this new knowledge will help us to develop improved treatments for those who suffer with schizophrenia.