Schiz.+Disc.

=Discussion= This literature review looking at what genes play a role in schizophrenia turned up a lot of genes relating to the disease. One gene of particular interest was GRIN2A which codes for the protein GluN2A. This protein is a part of the NMDA receptor involved in glutamate signaling and Long-term potentiation. The specific subunit of this receptor, subunit 2A, is the site at which glutamate binds (Itokawa and Yamanda, 2003).

There were several notable problems that arose during this research. One, there were conflicting sources that said there was no significance between the GRIN2A gene and schizophrenia. It seems mutations in this gene might only effect some populations, particularly Asian populations. Two, just because someone has a mutation in this gene does not mean they have an increased risk of schizophrenia. It seems as though a mutation here plays a small role in the big picture. Much more research needs to be done to determine how significant this gene is in schizophrenia, and more research should be done to find more genes involved in this disease.