A collaborative study between researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Harvard Medical School has identified genetic mutations that occur during brain development and may contribute to the development of schizophrenia. This research, published in Science (DOI 10.1126/science.adq1456), reveals that in addition to genes inherited from parents, certain mutations that arise after conception, called somatic mutations, could play a significant role in the disorder's development.
The study is the first to explore how specific mutations, known as single-nucleotide variants—tiny alterations in a single "letter" of the DNA code—may increase schizophrenia risk alongside inherited genetic factors.