Genetics of schizophrenia

- The genetic liability of schizophrenia is established as polygenic.
- Schizophrenia risk alleles converge onto specific synaptic gene-sets.
- Schizophrenia shares risk alleles with additional neuropsychiatric disorders.

Schizophrenia is a common psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic component. Recent studies applying new genomic technology to large samples have yielded substantial advances in identifying specific, associated DNA variants as well as clarifying the underlying genetic architecture of the disorder. The genetic liability of schizophrenia is now established as polygenic, with risk alleles in many genes existing across the full allelic frequency spectrum. It has also become apparent that schizophrenia shares risk alleles with other neuropsychiatric phenotypes, such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. These risk variants aggregate in several sets of functionally related genes, thereby providing novel insights into disease pathogenesis and opportunities for research into discovering new treatments.