The British Journal of Psychiatry 140: 595-599 (1982)
© 1982 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Testing the monogenic theory of schizophrenia: An application of segregation analysis to blind family study data
MT Tsuang, KD Bucher and JA Fleming
Segregation analysis was applied to blind family data concerning
schizophrenia to decide if the transmission of schizophrenia could be
explained by a single major gene. Our results showed that the Mendelian
model was unacceptable. Therefore, the monogenic hypothesis could not
account for the transmission of schizophrenia. Since the hypothesis of no
parent-child transmission was also not accepted, there was an indication
that some form of vertical transmission existed which could be
psychosocial, or an interaction between genetic and psychosocial factors.
Our results suggest genetic heterogeneity in schizophrenia. Currently
available clinical criteria for defining subgroups must be improved in
conjunction with detection of biological indicators so that segregation
analysis of family data could be effectively used in determining modes of
transmission in schizophrenia.