For researchers trying to decipher the genetics of manic depression, the past decade has been a long "down" period with few "up" interludes. The search for a genetic basis for the disease--a serious, often fatal psychiatric condition characterized bydramatic mood swings--has turned up a variety of candidate chromosomes, which have been announced, disproved, and cast aside with dispiriting frequency (Science, 17June 1994, p. 1693). The reason, critics say, was that disease traits were often ill-defined, and researchers were looking for a single responsible gene when the illness likely involves interactions among many of them.
展开▼
