Genetic defects can cause suicide

SUICIDAL tendencies may be driven by genetic defects that affect the growth of nerve cells, research suggests. The discovery follows previous research showing that suicide can run in families.

German Scientists investigated genetic variants among 394 patients diagnosed with depression, including 113 who had attempted suicide. Their DNA was compared with that of 366 healthy individuals from the general population.

Five single-letter changes in the genetic code were found to be significantly more common among individuals with a history of suicide attempts.