Genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder: strategies to identify candidate genes.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar affective disorder(BPAD) (formerly termed manic-depressive illness) aresevere, disabling psychiatric illnesses that feature prominently in the top ten causes of disability worldwide (Lopezand Murray 1998). Each will affect about 1% of the population in their lifetime.