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The idea of a "depression gene" has captured the imagination of some scientists for decades. Over the past 20 years, literally hundreds of thousands of people have had a significant increase in depression.
However, this research has been hypothesised to have a negative impact on a dead end. They argue that the idea of "depression genes" is a total dud.
Using data on over 620,000 individuals, the largest study of its kind that 18 candidate genes for depression actually have no role in the development of depression. Reporting in the last month's issue of The American Journal Of Psychiatry, the study authors call the scientific community to abandon the "candidate gene hypotheses" for depression.
"This study confirms that efforts to find a single gene or handful of genes that determine depression are doomed to fail," lead author Richard Border, a graduate student and researcher at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a statement.
"It's like in 'The Emporer Wears No Clothes.' There's just nothing there, "added senior author Matthew Keller, associate professor of Psychology and Neuroscience." I hope this is the final nail in the coffin for these kinds of studies. "
One of the most promising candidate genes was a "short" variation of 5-HTTLPR in the gene SLC6A4. Known to play a role in the transportation of serotonin neurotransmitter, the gene has been the focus of over 450 scientific studies, the majority of which is found in association with depression, especially when exposed to trauma in early life. Ever since this link was identified in 1996, hundreds of studies – often with relatively small sample sizes – have been attempted in a small set of other "depression genes".
However, the study found that SLC6A4 and the other 17 "depression genes" were not more related to depression than any other randomly selected gene.
This is not to say that depression does not have any kind of genetic underpinning. Instead, the study authors argue that the genetic link to depression is more complex than a small handful of genes. The study hopes for depression on the subject of "depression genes" and finally disposes of the hypothesis of the hypothesis hypothesis for depression – the idea that a variation on a single gene relates to the condition based on findings from previous studies. Even beyond the hard-coded elements of genetics, we then consider the less-quantifiable environmental factors that can play a role in mental health and meddle with genes too.
The truth, they are saying, resists simplicity.
"Any time someone claims to have identified the cause of a complex trait is a time to be skeptical," Border concluded.
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