Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Researchers discover hundreds of new genes linked to depression
ABC NEWS (Australia)
Follow
1/15/2025
An international team of researchers have found hundreds of new genetic variants linked to depression. The study highlights unknown biological factors that underpin the illness.
Category
📺
TV
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Hi Lono, thank you for having me.
00:04
This was a really big international effort in trying to understand the causes of depression.
00:10
And so it pulled data from researchers from 29 countries around the world, where we ended
00:15
up with a really large sample size, looking at about 680,000 people that had suffered
00:20
from depression, and then comparing their DNA to over 4 million people that hadn't had
00:24
depression before.
00:25
So it's really the world's largest study into the genetics of depression.
00:28
Gosh, it is big, and compiling all that data must have caused quite a headache.
00:32
What did you find?
00:37
We uncovered about 697 small genetic variants, so these are variations in genes that seem
00:44
to be associated with risk of depression, and we're really excited about this because
00:47
of 300 of these were previously unknown, so it's really increased our understanding of
00:52
how biology plays a role in depression risk.
00:55
So each thing that you found, on its own, can be a cause of depression, or is it a combination?
01:06
It's a combination.
01:07
So each of these genetic risk variants have a very small effect on their own, so no one
01:12
of them is going to cause depression, but cumulatively they can increase your risk.
01:17
But I think it's also important to bear in mind that even if you have a lot of these
01:22
genetic variants, that that's not deterministic.
01:24
That doesn't mean you will definitely get depression, it just means that you might have
01:28
an elevated risk, but obviously things like environment, lifestyle, traumatic experiences,
01:34
we know that those also play a really big role in the causes of depression.
01:38
So Brittany, what does having this information give us?
01:44
How will it benefit how we go from here?
01:50
We're really excited about understanding the biology more, because this is really one of
01:55
the first steps in providing better treatment.
01:57
So if we know what's happening in the brain, and we know what pathways are being enriched
02:01
or being activated when people suffer from depression, we can develop drugs that target
02:06
these pathways and provide more tailored treatments, or potentially reuse drugs that are already
02:11
on the market that are maybe used to treat other disorders, but work on those same pathways
02:17
that we now know play a role in depression, and these drugs might then also provide new
02:21
treatment avenues for people.
02:22
Oh, that's interesting.
02:24
So some of the genetic mutations or the genetics that are there can be treated with drugs that
02:30
are currently on the market, but just not for depression?
02:33
Yes, so that's a really kind of novel and exciting aspect of the study is what we did
02:40
was by understanding the genetic variants that are linked to depression and kind of
02:45
what biological processes they're involved in in the body, we've been able to map back
02:49
to medications that are currently on the market.
02:53
So one of the common ones that we highlight in the paper is a medication called modafinil.
02:59
It's prescribed to treat narcolepsy and is often prescribed to shift workers that need
03:03
to stay up through the night, and we know that that drug targets a lot of the similar
03:09
pathways that occur in depression.
03:11
So there's potential that this may end up being able to be used for depression.
03:16
We're obviously a little way off and we don't want everyone to rush out and buy modafinil
03:22
to treat their depression now, but we're very excited by that because it obviously cuts
03:26
down the time significantly in getting a new treatment to patients rather than developing
03:33
drugs from scratch and having to go through all the clinical trial basis.
03:37
We know that it's safe, it's available, it's on the market.
03:40
We just don't know if it's going to help with depression, but that's the next step
03:43
in the research.
03:44
Okay.
03:45
We know that with depression, prevention is key.
03:48
How does the research that you've been part of, how does it play into that, the prevention
03:54
aspect?
03:58
I think showing that the biology does play a significant role in depression risk for
04:02
some people is really promising, and we've shown that if we create a genetic risk score
04:08
from these identified genes that we've found, that this risk score is predictive of depression
04:14
and it is able to significantly associate with people that have depression.
04:19
And so the ultimate goal would be that this ends up in the healthcare system down the
04:24
line and that can then be used with healthcare professionals to match if you know you're
04:30
at high risk to help interventions or prevention strategies early on so we can start talking
04:36
about preventing depression rather than just treating it once it's occurred.
Recommended
1:15
|
Up next
Scientists Identify Depression Causing Enzyme In the Gut
Amaze Lab
3/24/2023
2:11
Experts to expand the lifesaving genetic screening program for newborns
ABC NEWS (Australia)
6/9/2025
0:54
Untreated depression can cause brain inflammation
TomoNews US
3/6/2018
0:39
Study Shows There's An Actual 'Signature' In The Brain For Major Depression
Wochit Business
12/7/2020
2:00
Families with 'bond deeper than blood' unite to find cure for rare disease SPG56
ABC NEWS (Australia)
5/29/2025
4:54
Olympian Lisa Curry calls volunteers to participate in global genetic study on eating disorders
ABC NEWS (Australia)
5/25/2025
1:02
Animals might develop clinical depression
Zoomin English
1/2/2025
0:24
Crystal Papali'i strip and score
The Canberra Times
yesterday
0:30
Parental Guidance returns
The Canberra Times
yesterday
0:22
Kaeo Weekes' try against Knights. FootageNRL.com
The Canberra Times
yesterday
0:50
Former Yellow Wiggle Emma launches Frozen show for school holidays
Australian Community Media
2 days ago
4:24
Unseasonal rain in Queensland, coastal low off NSW
Australian Community Media
2 days ago
1:21
Jonas Sultan returns to the ring to face Katsuma Akitsugi of Japan
PTVPhilippines
2 days ago
2:20
Cooper Flagg selected as number 1 pick by the Mavericks in the 2025 NBA Draft
PTVPhilippines
2 days ago
0:37
Laufey set to release album in August
PTVPhilippines
2 days ago
1:37
Magpie named ‘Jellybean’ credited to saving West Australian woman’s wife
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
2:02
South Australian government invest in autism inclusion teachers
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:58
Adelaide beachgoers urged to report dead and washed-up sea life
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:42
Isolated patients’ risk being left out from care with changes to national disability insurance
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:43
Cars raced from Australia’s most western end to the top end sold for cancer research
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
4:52
Looming price changes to national disability insurance worry providers
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:47
NDIS pricing limits for allied health will be set on Tuesday could disadvantage remote and regional communities
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:59
Cancer survivor forced interstate to treat chronic pain
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:40
Chickens cross state borders for families lining up to start their own chook farm
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
2:26
Rising food costs and shortage of volunteers could shut school canteens
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday