Molecular Mechanisms in Schizophrenia Susceptibility

精神分裂症是一种严重的精神疾病，在英国每100人中就有1人患有这种疾病。目前，人们对精神分裂症患者的大脑是如何改变的知之甚少。然而，科学家最近发现了增加患病几率的基因。伦敦国王学院精神病学研究所的研究人员正在研究这些基因的变化如何导致人类大脑的变化。他们将首先测试这些基因的变化是否会导致大脑中基因产物水平的差异。然后，他们将改变取自人脑的细胞中这些基因产物的水平，看看它是如何影响这些细胞的。这项研究将对大脑变化如何导致精神分裂症提供重要的新认识。这将有助于科学家为这种毁灭性疾病开发新的治疗方法。

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness which affects about 1 in every 100 people in Britain. Currently, little is known about how the brain is altered in schizophrenia. However, scientists have recently found genes that increase the chances of developing the illness. Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, are investigating how changes in these genes lead to changes in the human brain. They will first test to see if changes in these genes lead to differences in the level of the gene products in brain. They will then alter the level of these gene products in cells taken from the human brain to see how it affects these cells. This research will provide important new understanding of how changes in the brain lead to schizophrenia. This will help scientists develop new treatments for this devastating illness.