Familial and genetic mechanisms in schizophrenia

A distinction should be made between generic aspects of schizophrenia and familial aspects. Genetic aspects of the disease have been reviewed and found to be deficient in many respects. Until recent years, familial factors were assumed to be psychological in origin, but this assumption is now discredited. Research efforts should focus on familial factors that are biological, especially infectious agents that may be transmitted within the family. Most infectious agents are influenced by predisposing genes. The etiology of schizophrenia, then, may turn out to involve biological familial infectious agents that are influenced by susceptibility genes governing the infectious process and the clinical expression of the disease. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.