Discussion

Schizophrenia is a highly heritable disorder. Genetic risk is conferred by a large number of alleles, including common alleles of small effect that might be detected by genome-wide association studies. A recent multi-stage schizophrenia genome-wide association study of 37,000 cases and 113,000 controls identified 128 independent genetic associations that meet genome-wide significance. Associations were enriched among genes expressed in. Associations at the dopamine D2 receptor DRD2, encoding the principal drug target for antipsychotics, and multiple genes involved in glutamatergic neurotransmission highlight molecules of known and potential therapeutic relevance to schizophrenia, and are consistent with leading pathophysiological hypotheses.