Common variation is an important (and perhaps predominant) genetic contributor to risk for schizophrenia. We estimated that 6,300-10,200 independent and mostly common SNPs contribute to the etiology of schizophrenia. As one gene or structural element could contain multiple independent associations, that the number of number of genes ultimately determined to harbor causal variation for schizophrenia will be smaller, and we expect that these genes will implicate one or more biological pathways fundamental to disease risk.
