Our latest publication “Phenotypic landscape of schizophrenia-associated genes defines candidates and their shared functions”, was published in Cell.
Genomic studies have identified hundreds of candidate genes near loci associated with schizophrenia risk. However, which of these candidate genes are they themselves linked with schizophrenia as well as their function remain unclear. Here, Summer and collaborators mutated zebrafish orthologs of 132 human schizophrenia-associated genes. They developed a phenotype atlas with data on whole-brain activity maps, brain structural differences, and profiles of behavioral abnormalities. From these studies, they have prioritized more than 30 candidate genes for further study. This provides the building blocks for bridging the gap between genetic association and biological mechanism.
Congratulations to Summer and the team!