Universities of Aberdeen and Liverpool, and King's College London - Genes link to depression probed

A person is four times more likely to suffer from depression, which will affect up to 25 per cent of the population at some point in their lives, if a close family member has also had it. The genetic causes of depression are being investigated by researchers from the universities of Aberdeen and Liverpool and the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, led by Aberdeen senior lecturer Alasdair MacKenzie. They believe answers could lie with short DNA sequences that act as "genetic switches" in the part of the brain controlling mood.