BRITAIN: Scientists have discovered a variation in a gene in people at risk of schizophrenia that strongly suggests they will develop the condition. Brain scans of young people predisposed to schizophrenia show that those who go on to develop symptoms of the disorder have the mutated gene.
While this does not mean scientists have found a "gene for schizophrenia", it provides strong evidence of a key genetic link and brings them one step closer to finding a cure.
Last night the British mental health charity Sane described the research as exciting.
The University of Edinburgh researchers made their discovery after following 163 young people at risk of developing schizophrenia from their late teens for 10 years.
Schizophrenia has a strong inherited element and all participants in the project - known as the Edinburgh High Risk Study - had two or more relatives who had developed the condition.
The researchers, who report their results in the journal Nature Neuroscience, found a clear link between one particular variation of the neuregulin gene - which is involved in the development of the mind and the wiring of the brain - and the risk of developing psychotic symptoms.
People with this genetic variation were almost three times as likely to develop the symptoms of schizophrenia.