James D. Watson, in 1953 discovered the structure of DNA. This
was the key to uncovering the causes of brain disorders such as
schizophrenia, depression, fragile X syndrome, Alzheimers, etc.
is in our genes.
Since that time, scientists continue to search to find the genetic
basis of
neurological disorders, seeking out disease genes related to each
mental illness. This has since been dubbed as NDA fingerprinting.
Junk DNA
The full set of chromosomes that make up an organism is referred
to as the genome. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding
sequences of the DNA. DNA code tells our cells how to build their
molecular workforce - proteins. However, the vast majority of our
DNA sequence is never translated into proteins.
Most of our genome is made up of ‘junk DNA’, which
in spite of the name hold sequences vital in the evolution of human
brains, by allowing our neurons to make better contacts with each
other.
Sinces mans evolution from the chimp, the DNA maps have distinct
differences, mostly relating to junk DNA and largely attributed
to enviornmental elements.
The Human Genome Project was organized to map and to sequence the
human genome. Recent genome sequencing efforts have distinguished
DNA-level variation between different species, strains, and individuals.
eTQL
Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping profiling data
indicates that there is considerable variation in expression patterns
between individual humans. In addition, since the brain is a very
heterogeneous organ, expression profiles of the five different brain
regions also vary significantly.
These differing maps are now treated as quantitative traits. Findings
indicate that there is "a large number of brain region-specific
genes, suggesting that many regulatory networks are highly brain
region specific. Certain genes have extremely complicated expression
patterns whose variation is dependent on both strain and brain region
effects". For
more about eTQL studies.
