Schizophrenia genetics in the genome-wide era: a review of Japanese studies

The introduction of the genome-wide association study transformed schizophrenia genetics research and has promoted a genome-wide mindset that has stimulated the development of genomic technology, enabling departures from the traditional candidate gene approach. As result, we have witnessed a decade of major discoveries in schizophrenia genetics and the development of genome-wide approaches to the study of copy number variants. These genomic technologies have primarily been applied in populations of European descent. However, more recently both genome-wide association study and copy number variant studies in Asian populations have begun to emerge. In this invited review, we provide concise summaries of the schizophrenia genome-wide association study and copy number variant literature with specific focus on studies conducted in the Japanese population. When applicable, we compare findings observed in the Japanese population with those found in other populations. We conclude with recommendations for future research in schizophrenia genetics, relevant to Japan and beyond.