Did the Human Genome Project Affect Research on Schizophrenia?

The Human Genome Project was undertaken primarily to discover genetic causes and better treatments for human diseases. Schizophrenia was targeted since three of the project`s principal architects had a personal interest and also because, based on family, adoption, and twin studies, schizophrenia was widely believed to be a genetic disorder. Extensive studies using linkage analysis, candidate genes, genome wide association studies [GWAS], copy number variants, exome sequencing and other approaches have failed to identify causal genes. Instead, they identified almost 300 single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] associated with altered risks of developing schizophrenia as well as some rare variants associated with increased risk in a small number of individuals. Risk genes play a role in the clinical expression of most diseases but do not cause the disease in the absence of other factors. Increasingly, observers question whether schizophrenia is strictly a genetic disorder. Beginning in 1996 NIMH began shifting its research resources from clinical studies to basic research based on the promise of the Human Genome Project. Consequently, three decades later NIMH's genetics investment has yielded almost nothing clinically useful for individuals currently affected. It is time to review NIMH`s schizophrenia research portfolio.