2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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Is depression genetically linked?      Dawn Peck, M.S.: I have been the coordinator for Biochemical Genetics Clinic at the University of Missouri Health Care since 2000. My primary interests are newborn screening and public health genetics. Depression, and other psychiatric disorders, do have a genetic component. We know that individuals with a family history of depression have a higher risk of developing it than individuals without a family history. There is also an environmental component, suggesting that psychiatric disorders are due to "multifactorial" or "complex genetic" inheritance. Shikellamy High School in PA (9th grade student)

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