Schizophrenia Research

Interesting article about Reuters, July 30, 2007, about successful genetic engineering of schizophrenic mice:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have genetically engineered mice that develop the physical and psychological characteristics of schizophrenia, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They said the finding will help improve understanding of the disease and help develop drugs to treat it.

Current animal research on schizophrenia has relied on drugs to create the delusions, mood changes and paranoia that characterize this brain disorder.

Breeding animals that develop schizophrenia will help researchers better understand the disease, which affects about 1 percent of the world's population.

"We can use them to explore how external factors like stress or viruses may worsen symptoms," said Dr. Akira Sawa of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, whose work appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research builds on the discovery in recent years of the DISC1 gene that sharply increases the risk of schizophrenia.

Now, it is important to note that these mice have the same characteristics as human schizophrenia. It may not be the same problem. When LSD first appeared on the scene, scientists found the similarity to schizophrenia interesting, because there was some hope that understanding LSD might help to understand schizophrenia. But now we know that the similarities in results do not necessarily indicate similar mechanisms. LSD was a dead end towards finding a cure.