https://www.madinamerica.com/2017/10/schizophrenia-genetic-research-running-on-empty/

Schizophrenia Genetic Research – Running on Empty

 

The May, 2017 edition of Scientific American featured an article on schizophrenia research by freelance journalist Michael Balter, entitled “Schizophrenia’s Unyielding Mysteries.”¹ Despite the decades-old failure to discover genes that cause schizophrenia (as opposed to possibly being “associated” with it), Balter believed that continuing the search for genes is necessary to help unravel the “mysteries” of the condition, for the development of new “antipsychotic drugs” and other interventions, and to develop prevention programs. As I concluded in my 2017 e-book Schizophrenia and Genetics: The End of an Illusion, however, decades of failed gene finding attempts have produced a scientific finding that “genes for schizophrenia” most likely do not exist.
Balter also discussed recent evidence pointing to the role of childhood trauma, poverty, and other environmental factors, and quoted Norwegian neuroscientist Roar Fosse’s call for “a stronger focus on changing the environment so we can prevent schizophrenia.” Balter’s general conclusion was that environmental data should be added to or incorporated into molecular genetic research, so that researchers can produce statistical models in support of their position that genes and environment interact to produce schizophrenia.