Enormous genomic analysis yields tantalizing insights into mechanisms behind conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The PsychENCODE Consortium, which was founded by the US National Institutes of Health in 2015, aims to join the dots between these genetic associations and actual changes in gene function, by taking samples of brain tissue from thousands of cadavers and studying them using multiple genomic-sequencing techniques. “We know that [common neuropsychiatric] diseases are extremely heritable, but people still don’t have a good idea of mechanism; the goal is to use functional genomics to try to figure out what’s going on,” says Gerstein. Although we do hope that a lot more work of this sort will help us link the genetics to the biology of these disorders.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07750-x