Chronic stress is a well-known cause for mental health disorders, and new research led by researchers at the University of Bristol has uncovered a link between corticosteroid receptors and ciliary and neuroplasticity genes in the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in stress coping and learning and memory. The…

Startup Orchid is launching the first preconception test that the company contends predicts a couple’s chances of conceiving a child with high risk of common illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, schizophrenia, and several types of cancer. The test applies whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to a saliva sample from each partner,…

Reporting in Nature Neuroscience on their analysis of exome sequencing data from more than 1,000 individuals with OCD, researchers headed by a team at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons say new findings “… support a contribution of rare damaging coding variation to OCD risk.” The team suggests that…

In the largest genetic study of bipolar disorder to date, researchers have identified 64 regions of the genome containing DNA variations that increase risk of this condition – more than double the number previously identified. Bipolar disorder is known to be one of the most heritable mental illnesses, but unravelling…

Current methods for diagnosing and treating depression remain largely trial and error with no objective measures or blood tests available. But a team led by Alexander Niculescu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Indiana University, is hoping to bring personalized medicine approach to the condition and other mood disorders. They…

Startup Orchid already has a wait list for its soon-to-be released new test to predict a child’s risk of common diseases—before conception. The test requires only a saliva sample from each prospective parent, and is based on genetic risk scores calculated by testing for genetic variations. The company also announced…

The largest genomic study on mood and psychotic disorders to date reveals some substantial differences in the genetics of how such disorders develop and are expressed in men and women. A multinational team of scientists has scanned approximately 200,000 genomes to show that although there is substantial genetic overlap between…

Differences in gene expression could help explain why major mental disorders that have similar genetic roots produce such different symptoms in those affected, suggest results from the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda. The researchers found that although people with conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive…

It’s been 20 years since the first human genome was sequenced and 10 years since the birth of psychiatric genomics. Like those who study chronic conditions such as cancer, researchers in the field of psychiatric genomics are dedicated to using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to find candidate genes that, upon…

Twenty years after the publication of the first draft of the human genome, our views have changed on the cipher for humanity, the identity of our ancestors, the differences among us, and the genomic nuances that can govern disease. Much has been deciphered and plenty remains. It is an opportune…

Precision medicine therapy developer Denovo Biopharma LLC, announced dosing of the first patient in its biomarker guided Phase III clinical study evaluating the enzastaurin (DB102) in combination with temozolomide and radiation as first line therapy to treat newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled global study is plans to…

In the 1990s, Elissa Levin proposed a master’s thesis on using the Internet to extend the reach of genetic counselors. Quickly, her committee shut down that idea. In those “old days”—just a few decades ago—many genetic counselors believed that only face-to-face assessments could be useful. In the midst of the…

An online registry of over 1,200,000 human and mouse candidate functional elements that regulate genes has been generated as part of the third phase of the global ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project. The latest ENCODE findings, reported in a collection of 14 papers in Nature, Nature Methods and Nature Communications, provide new insights…

A new study from investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School sheds new light on the risk of developing long-term diseases and overall human lifespan. The researchers found that the combined effects of rare, damaging mutations present at birth have a negative impact on healthspan and longevity.…

A new tool for linking genes, behavior and the brain is here and could dramatically change the field of neuroscience. Scientists have created a tool to detect which genes and their non-coding counterparts are associated with psychiatric and other brain disorders, something that is notoriously hard to pin down in…