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Researchers John Kelsoe, M.D. and Thomas Barrett, M.D., Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have identified a specific gene that causes bipolar disorder in a subset of patients.
 In a recent issue of Molecular Psychiatry, these findings point to a mutation in a gene that regulates sensitivity to neurotransmitters such as dopamine, causes bipolar disorder in as many as 10 percent of bipolar cases. The mutation in this gene, G protein receptorkinase 3 (GRK3), occurs in a portion of the gene called the promoter. This promoter regulates when the gene is turned on.
Research suggests that this mutation causes the individual to become hypersensitive to dopamine, leading to the mood extremes that characterize biopolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is believed to be caused by multiple genes. Although previous research has suggested candidate genes or general DNA regions where faulty genes may reside, the UCSD study is the first to pinpoint a precise gene involved in the disease.
University of California, San Diego Press Release
10:46:19 PM 
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