The risk of mental illness is not high, and it is known as a genetic test.

The risk of mental illness is not high, and it is known as a genetic test.

August 05, 2016 Source: Noble

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For decades, scientists have little knowledge of the relationship between genes and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). A recent study in the journal Nature Genetics showed that 15 genetic variants or SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) are closely related to MDD.

“My research team spent more than a decade searching for genes related to depression, but it has not been successful before, so you can imagine how excited this discovery is,” said Harvard University professor of psychiatry, one of the main investigators of the study. Roy Perlis said.

Finding these genetic variants makes sense for identifying high-risk groups and helps us adopt more advanced and precise treatments.

“But this is just the beginning. The real challenge now is to understand the impact of these variations on people and how they work.”

The data for this study came from the personal genomics company 23andMe.

Mental illness is the result of a combination of factors such as genes, environment and lifestyle, so a large amount of data is needed to get the exact answer.

The study analyzed data from 75,600 patients who were clinically diagnosed as patients with depression. In addition, the study analyzed data from 231,700 healthy individuals (no history of mental illness, no clinical diagnosis). By contrast, the researchers finally identified 15 MDD-related loci on DNA.