The ENCODE project: implications for psychiatric genetics

• Published in: Molecular psychiatry Vol. 18; no. 5; pp. 540 - 542
• Main Authors: Kavanagh, D H, Dwyer, S, O'Donovan, M C, Owen, M J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.05.2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/208/2489/144; 692/699/476/377; Behavioral Sciences; Binding sites; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Psychology; Chromatin - genetics; Consortia; DNA methylation; Evolution, Molecular; expert-review; Genes; Genetic factors; Genetics; Genetics, Population; Genome, Human - genetics; Genomes; Genomics; Human Genome Project; Humans; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - genetics; Neurogenetics; Neuropsychiatry; Neurosciences; Nucleotide sequence; Pharmacotherapy; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Stem cells; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; ENCODE project; genomics; functional variation; Genetics; Genetic determinism; Genomics
• ISSN: 1359-4184; 1476-5578
• DOI: 10.1038/mp.2013.13

The ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project is a public research consortium that aims to identify all functional elements of the human genome sequence. The project comprised 1640 data sets, from 147 different cell type and the findings were released in a coordinated set of 34 publications across several journals. The ENCODE publications report that 80.4% of the human genome displays some functionality. These data have important implications for interpreting results from large-scale genetics studies. We reviewed some of the key findings from the ENCODE publications and discuss how they can influence or inform further investigations into the genetic factors contributing to neuropsychiatric disorders.