19 October 2005. A new DNA microarray study of schizophrenia
patients in the U.S. and Taiwan suggests that the selenium-
binding protein, SELENBP1, might be a viable candidate for a
schizophrenia-associated gene. The finding, presented at the
World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics in Boston on October 15,
and reported as an advanced online publication in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online, also
hints that SELENBP1 might serve as an easily detectible
biomarker because in those with the disease, the amount of the
protein in peripheral blood cells is higher than normal. Since
it became generally accepted that susceptibility to
schizophrenia reflects subtle variation among multiple genes,
scientists have tried every means at their disposal to identify
genetic changes that increase the risk of developing the
disease. Over the last 5 years or so, genetic linkage and
association studies of families affected by the illness have
identified several strong candidate genes, including, among
others,