Study points way to finding genes affecting depression risk

NEW YORK (AP) — In a key advance for the study of depression, a comprehensive scan of human DNA has turned up the apparent hiding places of more than a dozen genes linked to the disorder.

Experts said the result is important not only for its specific findings, but also for its demonstration that the study's approach can help uncover clues to the biology of depression, which is largely a mystery.

[...] DNA scans are popular for finding genes that affect risk of diseases, but depression has proven largely resistant to this approach.

In a rare and modest success reported last year, researchers turned up two places in the human DNA that appear to harbor genes affecting risk in a Han Chinese population.

The 15 locations that appear to harbor disease-risk genes were uncovered by a statistical analysis that compares people with depression to those without, looking for slight but suggestive differences at specific spots in their genomes.