Part I – Coming Home Elise was excited as she boarded the bus. She had just nish

Question

Part I – Coming Home

Elise was excited as she boarded the bus. She had just nished her rst year at college and was looking
forward to her rst night back home since winter break, which would include mom’s spaghetti and meatballs and catching up with her family. She couldn’t wait to curl up on the couch with her cat Ziggy snuggled next to her, and she was hopeful that her sister, Shannon, would be willing to join her there, since they had talked very little since Elise’s last visit home.

As she settled in for the four-hour bus ride home, Elise pulled out her iPhone, put on some music, and started looking through old photographs. She came across a few of her and her sister taken at Christmas—the last time they had seen each other. Looking at Shannon was like looking in the mirror. After all, they were identical twins. Elise recalled all
of the pranks that she and Shannon used to pull in school when they were kids. In 5th grade, they once made it all the way to lunchtime before their teachers realized that they had swapped classes and were impersonating one another!

Shannon and Elise used to have so much fun together, but things had changed. Elise was worried about her sister and the serious health troubles she had been having over the past year and a half. And she couldn’t help but wonder to herself, “Are the same troubles heading my way?”

“Identical Twins, Identical Fates?” by Sarah A. Wojiski Page 1

Part II – The Diagnosis

Elise stared out the window of the bus at the rush-hour tra c that had befallen travelers on the other side of the highway. She recalled that night back in November when her mother called her at school to share the fateful news about her sister. “Shannon has been diagnosed with schizophrenia,” was what she had said. e words had dropped into the pit of Elise’s stomach.

She had known that something was going wrong with her sister. e summer before she left for college, Elise noticed changes in Shannon’s behavior. Despite being an avid swimmer and lifeguard, Shannon quit her highly coveted swim camp instructor position just two weeks into the summer. She seemed withdrawn and unmotivated, and had also unexpectedly decided not to attend college in the fall, despite Elise’s and her parent’s e orts to convince her otherwise. But Elise did not get to see the worst of Shannon’s behavior, when she began having hallucinations and couldn’t seem to carry on a coherent conversation with her parents.

Elise had done some research about schizophrenia after hearing of her sister’s diagnosis. She did not like what she found out. Apparently, schizophrenia has a tendency to run in families. In fact, studies indicate that a sibling of a schizophrenic has a 10-fold higher risk of developing schizophrenia over the general population. Elise began to worry about her own mental health. She decided she would do some further investigation into the disease once she got home for summer break.

Question

What could be some possible genetic and non-genetic causes of Shannon’s schizophrenia?

please give example of genetic causes, like what is happening: delition or insertion?

thank you

Explanation / Answer

Various genetic changes lead to schizophrenia. Copying error in DNA replication at the time of cell division can lead to accumulation of mutation. This can also be responsible for causing this disease. Apart from this, viral infections before birth can also cause schizophrenia. Use of psychotropic drugs can also lead to the problem.

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