Mice engineer to be schizophrenic - FierceBioResearcher - Biotech research, Biotechnology research, Bioinformatics: "Scientists at Johns Hopkins have genetically engineered mice to carry a human gene that triggers schizophrenia, an advance that will help researchers search for new methods to control the disease. Researchers currently rely on mice that are given doses of powerful drugs such as PCP to induce schizophrenia. The gene was found in a Scottish family prone to the disease. By inserting the mutant gene into mouse DNA, the researchers were able to create mice with the type of brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, schizophrenia affects about one percent of the population.
'Before, we would inject a rodent with a drug and say it's a schizophrenic mouse, but it did not reflect the underlying cause of the disease,' said Hopkins scientist Dr. Akira Sawa."
