NEW YORK, Apr 30 (Reuters Health) -- Complex patterns of genes may predispose people to anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. Scientists working on the National Institutes of Health's Human Genome Project believe that their work may shed light on the genetic basis of some of these disorders.
The project may help "to identify genes that confer vulnerability to psychiatric disorders," said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, in an interview with Reuters Health.
However, research suggests that for such complex traits, "there is no single gene, but many genes working in concert with environmental factors," he said.
Hyman told attendees at the recent Fifth Annual Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion, held in Madison, that the National Institutes of Health and a consortium of 10 pharmaceutical companies are in the process of identifying "well over 300,000" genes linked to human diseases, which include some psychiatric disorders. Hyman hopes that current gene mapping research could help in the development of new treatments for psychiatric disorders.
