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Comment by James Power on May 7, 2016 at 1:25pm

sraeli and American scientists have discovered a gene among Ashkenazi Jews that increases their chances of developing the mental disorder schizophrenia, as well as schizo-affective disorder and manic depression. According to a study recently published in Nature Communications, the gene in question raises Ashkenazi Jews’ chances of experiencing the disorders by roughly 40%, and by 15% in the general population.

The study was conducted by Professor Ariel Darvasi, assistant dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in coordination with Dr. Todd Lencz from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in New York. The first portion of the study included the largest-ever sample group of Ashkenazi Jews ever researched.

Of the 2,500 Ashkenazi Jews from Israel who contributed DNA samples for the study, 1,500 were healthy, while 1,000 were affected by mental disorders related to schizophrenia.