Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Step Toward Unraveling The Notoriously Tricky Mystery Of The Genetic Roots Of Psychiatric Diseases
The New York Times: Mapping The Brain’s Genetic Landscape
For the past two decades, scientists have been exploring the genetics of schizophrenia, autism and other brain disorders, looking for a path toward causation. If the biological roots of such ailments could be identified, treatments might follow, or at least tests that could reveal a person’s risk level. In the 1990s, researchers focused on genes that might possibly be responsible for mental distress, but then hit a wall. Choosing so-called candidate genes up front proved to be fruitless. In the 2000s, using new techniques to sample the entire genome, scientists hit many walls: Hundreds of common gene variants seemed to contribute some risk, but no subset stood out. (Carey, 12/13)
Stat: With Data From 2,000 Brains, Studies Explore Psychiatric Diseases
But a sweeping set of studies published Thursday make a dent in that mystery, and shows the potential of big data and teamwork among many labs to unlock valuable clues. The 10 papers — appearing in Science, Science Translational Medicine, and Science Advances — are part of a unique, nationwide collaboration among more than a dozen research sites known as the PsychENCODE Consortium. (Thielking, 12/13)
