Science / Medicine : Gene Linked to Schizophrenia

Texas scientists said last week that they have identified a gene that may predispose some people to schizophrenia, a finding other researchers welcomed as a new lead for understanding the disease. A particular variant of the gene showed up in people with schizophrenia far more often than chance would dictate, said Alan Sanders of Baylor University at a New Orleans meeting of the American Psychiatric Assn.

That variant may predispose some people to schizophrenia, or it may lie very close to some other unknown gene that does so, the study concluded.

“This is the kind of lead that we need to help give us some more clues, some things to search for” to understand the genetic contribution to the disease, said neuroscientist David Shore of the National Institute of Mental Health.