The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
“A Gene for…”: The Nature of Gene Action in Psychiatric Disorders
Abstract
A central phrase in the new "GeneTalk" is "X is a gene for Y," in which X is a particular gene on the human genome and Y is a complex human disorder or trait. This article begins by sketching the historical origins of this phrase and the concept of the gene-phenotype relationship that underlies it. Five criteria are then proposed to evaluate the appropriateness of the "X is a gene for Y" concept: 1) strength of association, 2) specificity of relationship, 3) noncontingency of effect, 4) causal proximity of X to Y, and 5) the degree to which X is the appropriate level of explanation for Y. Evidence from psychiatric genetics is then reviewed that address each of these criteria. The concept of "a gene for..." is best understood as deriving from preformationist developmental theory in which genes-like preformationist anlagen-"code for" traits in a simple, direct, and powerful way. However, the genetic contribution to psychiatric disorders fails to meet any of the five criteria for the concept of "X is a gene for Y." The impact of individual genes on risk for psychiatric illness is small, often nonspecific, and embedded in complex causal pathways. The phrase "a gene for..." and the preformationist concept of gene action that underlies it are inappropriate for psychiatric disorders.
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Citations
Cites
Influence of life stress on depression: moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene
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Self-citationStressful life events, genetic liability, and onset of an episode of major depression in women
(1995) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.152.6.833 · Cited by 1,063
Self-citationTypes of stressful life event and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders
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Childhood Adversity, Monoamine Oxidase A Genotype, and Risk for ConductDisorder
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Cited by
Network analysis: An integrative approach to the structure of psychopathology
Borsboom, D., & Cramer, A. O. J. (2013) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185608 · Cited by 4,359
Nock, M. K., Borges, G., Bromet, E. J., Cha, C. B., Kessler, R. C., & Lee, S. (2008) · Epidemiologic Reviews · doi:10.1093/epirev/mxn002 · Cited by 2,897
Nock, M. K. (2010) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131258 · Cited by 1,550
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., Williams, B., Newcombe, R., Craig, I. W., & Moffitt, T. E. (2006) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001851 · Cited by 1,158
Gene-environment interplay and psychopathology: multiple varieties but real effects
Rutter, M., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2006) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01557.x · Cited by 1,058
Metadata
- Authors
- Kendler, K. S.
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 2005-07-01
- Volume
- 162
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1243-1252
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- OpenAlex
- W2125441992
- Cited by
- 401
- References
- 10
- FWCI
- 16.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
