Kelly Redinger / Design Pics / Corbis
Are some people hardwired to get the blues? Scientists have long believed that a tendency toward melancholy runs in families, much like dimpled chins and blue eyes. But the tricky part has been figuring out which genes are involved and how strongly they are correlated with a risk for developing depression.
A new study published on June 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) now threatens to send researchers back to the drawing board. The meta-analysis of 14 prior studies concludes that the so-called depression gene — a variant of a serotonin-transporter gene called 5-HTTLPR — may not be associated with an elevated risk for depression, as many researchers had believed. "Knowing whether or not you have this gene is irrelevant," says the study's co-author Kathleen Merikangas, a genetic epidemiologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, who adds that future studies of genetic risk factors for depression should broaden their scope and consider the interactions of many genes rather than the actions of just one.
The discovery by Duke psychologist Avshalom Caspi of a "depression gene," which was among the first to be associated with mental illness — a notably difficult class of diseases to pin down, genetically speaking — inspired dozens of similar studies....[rc]
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Copyright © 2009 Time Inc
June 17, 2009
USA: Study: Depression gene doesn't predict the blues
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NEW YORK, NY / TIME / Health & Science / June 17, 2009
By Anita Hamilton
Kelly Redinger / Design Pics / Corbis
Are some people hardwired to get the blues? Scientists have long believed that a tendency toward melancholy runs in families, much like dimpled chins and blue eyes. But the tricky part has been figuring out which genes are involved and how strongly they are correlated with a risk for developing depression.
A new study published on June 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) now threatens to send researchers back to the drawing board. The meta-analysis of 14 prior studies concludes that the so-called depression gene — a variant of a serotonin-transporter gene called 5-HTTLPR — may not be associated with an elevated risk for depression, as many researchers had believed. "Knowing whether or not you have this gene is irrelevant," says the study's co-author Kathleen Merikangas, a genetic epidemiologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, who adds that future studies of genetic risk factors for depression should broaden their scope and consider the interactions of many genes rather than the actions of just one.
The discovery by Duke psychologist Avshalom Caspi of a "depression gene," which was among the first to be associated with mental illness — a notably difficult class of diseases to pin down, genetically speaking — inspired dozens of similar studies....[rc]
Click here to continue reading
Copyright © 2009 Time Inc
Kelly Redinger / Design Pics / Corbis
Are some people hardwired to get the blues? Scientists have long believed that a tendency toward melancholy runs in families, much like dimpled chins and blue eyes. But the tricky part has been figuring out which genes are involved and how strongly they are correlated with a risk for developing depression.
A new study published on June 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) now threatens to send researchers back to the drawing board. The meta-analysis of 14 prior studies concludes that the so-called depression gene — a variant of a serotonin-transporter gene called 5-HTTLPR — may not be associated with an elevated risk for depression, as many researchers had believed. "Knowing whether or not you have this gene is irrelevant," says the study's co-author Kathleen Merikangas, a genetic epidemiologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, who adds that future studies of genetic risk factors for depression should broaden their scope and consider the interactions of many genes rather than the actions of just one.
The discovery by Duke psychologist Avshalom Caspi of a "depression gene," which was among the first to be associated with mental illness — a notably difficult class of diseases to pin down, genetically speaking — inspired dozens of similar studies....[rc]
Click here to continue reading
Copyright © 2009 Time Inc
