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The ENCODE project: implications for psychiatric genetics

Molecular Psychiatry volume 18, pages 540–542 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project is a public research consortium that aims to identify all functional elements of the human genome sequence. The project comprised 1640 data sets, from 147 different cell type and the findings were released in a coordinated set of 34 publications across several journals. The ENCODE publications report that 80.4% of the human genome displays some functionality. These data have important implications for interpreting results from large-scale genetics studies. We reviewed some of the key findings from the ENCODE publications and discuss how they can influence or inform further investigations into the genetic factors contributing to neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Acknowledgements

Our work is supported by an MRC Centre Grant (G0801418) and an MRC Programme Grant (G0800509).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Medicine and Neurology, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    D H Kavanagh, S Dwyer, M C O'Donovan & M J Owen

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  1. D H Kavanagh
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  2. S Dwyer
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  3. M C O'Donovan
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  4. M J Owen
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Correspondence to D H Kavanagh.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Kavanagh, D., Dwyer, S., O'Donovan, M. et al. The ENCODE project: implications for psychiatric genetics. Mol Psychiatry 18, 540–542 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2013.13

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