The problem is that the existence of the schizophrenia subtypes listed in
OMIM is not established. Schizophrenia is not a mendelian disorder. The
linkage findings may or may not hold up on further study. OMIM entry
181500 "Schizophrenia-2" is the one most worth reading.
In writing these notes on gen-link I've been assuming that the original
question was asked by a non-scientist, so I'm not getting into much detail
and I'm avoiding technical language. The OMIM schizophrenia entries could
very easily mislead someone not familiar with the problems of this
research area.
Mike
On Sun, 19 May 1996 Rcjohnsen at aol.com wrote:
> I think your warning appropriate but I'm not sure I understand or appreciate
> your comments fully concerning Schizophrenia at the OMIM site. The
> information there is very clear. The search lists several disorders, and
> some of them have different and complex inheritance patterns. One does not
> need to isolate/sequence/locate a gene or know its protein product or know
> the product's function to know its heritability patterns. Gregor Mendel
> derived those laws over a hundred & 30 years ago and they have since been
> amended/modified to account for more complex cases(some are not convincing).
> The information certainly suggests these disorders are complex and raises
> the possibility that several genes may contribute to behavioral disorder(s)
> which are still not very well defined. At the same time, it gives the reader
> an appreciation of the struggle going on in science to better define them.
> Development, Cancer, and the mind are just a few of the great frontiers in
> Genetics.
>
