Brain diseases are better classified using analysis of gene activity, shows study

Research led by Yashar Zeighami at McGill University, Canada, provides a new way to characterize brain diseases. The study, published in the open access journal PLOS Biology on April 20 shows that comparing the transcriptomes (the map of activity for all genes in the genome) related to different brain diseases can help us understand the mechanisms underlying the diseases, and why certain ones are comorbid. The method can also find new relationships among diseases, which could have an impact on clinical treatment options.