Implications of Genetic Findings for Understanding Schizophrenia

From the perspective of those of us working on the genetics of schizophrenia, recent progress in identifying specific genetic risk factors at highly robust levels of statistical significance has been striking. However, the prevailing response among other schizophrenia researchers and some funders, families, and sufferers is often one of disappointment. In particular, it is often claimed that these discoveries explain only a small proportion of the genetic risk and hence tell us little about the nature of schizophrenia. The purpose of this article is to persuade you that recent genetic findings, while only revealing the tip of a complex genetic iceberg, already have profound implications for our general understanding of the classification and pathogenesis of schizophrenia and related disorders and that these have implications for schizophrenia research of all kinds.