Epigenetics: Twin study sheds light on who will develop schizophrenia
From “Twin Study Reveals Epigenetic Alterations of Psychiatric Disorders” (ScienceDaily, Sep. 23, 2011), we learn: Previous quantitative genetic analyses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder reveal strong inherited components to both. However, although heritability for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is estimated at 70%, disease concordance between twin-pairs is far from 100%, indicating that non-genetic factors play an important role in the onset of the diseases. Essentially, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are thought to have a strong genetic component, which focuses researchers’ attention on the many cases where one twin has such a disorder and the other does not. The current study looked at 22 such pairs of twins. “Epigenetic mechanisms are linked to heritable, but reversible, changes in gene expression without Read More ›