Just days after the death of a pioneer of schizophrenia treatment, Baltimore psychiatrist Dr. Frank J. Ayd Jr., a new study revealed that the mental illness which affects about one percent of Americans is linked with an entire array of genetic mutations.

Two teams of researchers have published their work in the journal Science, claiming that no one gene can be suspected for the presence of schizophrenia, but rather a large number of genetic glitches contribute to the onset of the illness.

"We speculate that most people with schizophrenia have a different genetic cause," said Mary-Claire King, professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, to AFP. "The mutations are individually rare, but share consequences downstream," she said.

The disorder is characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking. There is no cure, but symptoms can be improved with medication.

The study was done by researchers from University of Washington, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and the National Institutes of Health and looked at 150 individuals with schizophrenia and 268 healthy patients searching for genetic differences. About 24 genes have been identified which appear to influence schizophrenia, but a much larger number of patients would be needed for accurate results.

"This is an important new finding in the genetics of schizophrenia," said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, according to AFP. "Identifying genes prone to harbouring these mutations in brain development pathways holds promise for treatment and prevention of schizophrenia, as well as a wide range of other neurodevelopmental brain disorders," he told the news agency.