No Mendelian Genes in Psychiatry?

Abstract

To date, no gene following Mendelian inheritance (e.g., monogenic variant) has been discovered for any common psychiatric disorder. This unfortunate circumstance has delayed meaningful inroads into the pathophysiology of psychiatric disease that has otherwise enabled advances into so many other fields of medicine. New methods and approaches can now find these putative genes offering the same potential for foundational impact on psychiatry as has occurred in diverse fields such as metabolism, hematology, and cancer. If unsuccessful, a significant impediment in progress toward mitigating the suffering from mental illness will result.