A genome-wide linkage study of schizophrenia in a large sample from Tamil Nadu, India

印度泰米尔纳德邦的一项精神分裂症研究。精神分裂症的病因尚不清楚，但有很好的证据表明基因发挥了作用。遗传学家并不完全了解这种疾病是如何遗传的，但它非常复杂，可能涉及几个相互作用的基因以及环境因素。我们一直在从泰米尔纳德邦的一些社区招募至少有两个患有精神分裂症的兄弟姐妹的家庭。我们计划招募总共400个受影响的兄弟姐妹家庭，以及400个三人家庭(父母双方，加上他们受影响的孩子)。将对所有个体的遗传密码进行全基因组扫描，以确定与精神分裂症有关的染色体区域。这是识别精神分裂症易感基因的必要的第一步。如果发现一个或多个基因，这将极大地提高我们对这种疾病的理解。这也将刺激人们在世界各地的其他样本中寻找类似的基因，包括澳大利亚。在澳大利亚，精神分裂症每年的治疗和失业成本高达25亿美元。有了这样的发现，就有可能找到更好的治疗方法来纠正疾病的基本原因，并确定预防疾病的因素。

A Study of Schizophrenia in Tamil Nadu, India. The cause of schizophrenia is unknown, but there is good evidence that genes play a role. Geneticists do not fully understand how the disease is inherited, but it is very complex, and several interacting genes as well as environmental factors are probably involved. We have been recruiting families with at least two siblings with schizophrenia from a number of communities-casts in Tamil Nadu. We plan to recruit a total of 400 affected sibling families, together with 400 trio families (both parents, plus their affected child). A genome-wide scan of the genetic code in all individuals will be conducted to identify chromosomal regions linked to schizophrenia. This is the first necessary step toward identifying schizophrenia susceptibility genes. If one or more genes are discovered, this will greatly improve our understanding of this disease. It will also stimulate the search for similar genes in other samples world-wide, including Australia where schizophrenia costs $2.5 billion annually in terms of treatment and loss of employment. With such a discovery, it may be possible to find better treatments that correct the basic cause of the illness and identify factors that protect against the illness.