DNA Micro Array Project
Schizophrenia has a strong genetic component, but no genes predisposing
for the disease have been identified. Given that the genetics of
schizophrenia has been extensively studied, it seems likely that
not one or two genes, but rather certain combinations of variations
in several genes, give disposition. The most common variation in
the genome is the substitution of one base for another, single nucleotide
polymorphism (SNP). Some of the SNPs could alter expression, splicing
or give amino acid substitutions, and thereby affect protein function.
If a disease has a multigenetic origin, the disposing variants of
the risk genes must be present at a fairly high proportion. The
frequency of the least common SNP allele is between 1% and 50%,
and thus, SNP analysis could be useful for finding genes involved
in multigenetic disease. In order to study how combinations of different
genetic variants predispose for disease, several genes must be analyzed.
DNA micro arrays is a novel technique that allows studies of thousands
of genes in one experiment. The aim of this project is develop a
micro array-based method enabling the analysis of thousands of SNPs.
By analyzing DNA from patients and controls, we hope to find susceptibility
genes that could be used as drug targets and for diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Project leader: Lars
Tjernberg
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