As might be expected, genetically driven therapeutic progress in medicine to date has been greatest in situations where a single gene is the sole or primary cause of the disease (e.g. for certain cancers and Mendelian disorders; Green and Guyer 2011; Sanseau et al., 2012). Yet even in these domains, advances have been few (Dietz, 2010). Within psychiatry, we still await mature therapeutic fruits of research into the neurodegenerative (e.g. Huntington’s disease; familial Alzheimer’s disease) and neurodevelopmental (e.g. Rett syndrome) disorders for which the causal genes and the mutations within them have been known for well over a decade, and despite considerable advances in understanding their molecular pathogenesis (Gadalla et al., 2011; Huang and Mucke, 2012; Ross and Tabrizi, 2011). On the other hand, these cautionary notes in no way detract from the significance of the genetic discoveries for schizophrenia therapeutics. It is from genetics that the core biochemical and molecular basis of the disorder will finally be elucidated, and it is from the latter understanding that rationally designed and effective treatments will be developed. This is a prize well
