In the first pages of Lone Frank’s My Beautiful Genome, I discovered that what has always been a mystery is indeed still a mystery.
In a previous post, I talked about my mother’s schizophrenia, and how that had been a factor in whether or not my husband and I would have children.
Genome Management Information System, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Human Chromosomes from “Human Genome Landmarks: Selected Genes, Traits, and Disorders” Poster, 2002. (Gene Gateway)
Lone tracked down the curmudgeonly and controversial James Watson (who, with Francis Crick, discovered the chemical structure of DNA in 1953) and, among other things, they discussed the heritability of schizophrenia. Watson’s son has schizophrenia.
After several major studies involving some 50,000 patients, next to nothing is known about the heritability of schizophrenia.
No particular genes were found to be associated with schizophrenia (except in a very small percentage of cases), and the few genetic links found were not the same genes in all patients.
This is known as missing heritability. Lone Frank calls it the “dark matter” of the genome.
Watson and others theorize that the cause of schizophrenia and other diseases and conditions for which there is no obvious genetic inheritance may be due to rare variants – genetic changes not inherited from the parents, but which occur spontaneously in the afflicted person.
With a kind of despair, Watson said it may be ten years before the genetics behind serious psychiatric illness is better understood. This knowledge won’t help his son, of course. But, as Watson says, many people are suffering.
I would like to see the suffering of schizophrenia end, too.
Of course, Watson is a scientist, and he wants to know. So do I. Ten years doesn’t sound long to me, considering I’ve been living with this mystery for nearly fifty years.
This may be an illusion, but if I could better understand the dark matter of my mother’s life, perhaps it would be a comfort. We all want to make sense of our suffering.
I think My Beautiful Genome may be one of the most important books I’ll ever read in my adult life. For me, it’s personal, but it’s personal for all of us. Genetics is giving us (and our children) powerful information humans have never had before.
Do you want to know what the new genetics could mean for your future health or the health of your children and grandchildren? What can genetics tell us about mental illness? How will knowing our own genome influence our romantic relationships and how we choose the person with whom we’ll have children?
Lone Frank wanted to know the answers to these and other questions. In future posts, I’ll tell you a little bit about what she found out.
Exploring Genetics
Check out Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center.
Books Can Save A Life 
My goodness, I think you should read The Isolation Door by Anish Majumdar, a fictionalized account of his mother’s schizophrenia.
Thank you, I hadn’t heard of it. I will!
[…] 3 Encountering the dark matter of mental illness […]
You’re afraid of having children because your mother had schizophrenia? The chances are really low.
Most people who have schizophrenia or bipolar do not have a close relative with either condition. There is no serious mental illness in my family that I know of, although my mother does have recurrent depression. I found out that because of that my chances of getting recurrent depression or bipolar 1 were equal and about 5%-10% each. I have schizoaffective bipolar, but only got the full symptoms at 38 years of age!
Thanks for commenting! I should stress I’m not a genetic counselor or expert in genetics by any means, so I am trying to comment only on my own experiences and, hopefully, summarize accurately some of the high points of My Beautiful Genome.
Genetics is such a complicated subject, but you summarized your point beautifully. I can see why the subject is very important to you.
I appreciate your words, thank you!