The team says the world's largest genetic³ study of the disease shows it can have biological causes - putting it on a par⁴ with（与……同等） other medical conditions.

 

Led by Cardiff University, the international group believes this could be a launch pad for new therapies.

 

Charities say that holistic⁵ approaches（整体分析） to the illness must continue.

 

Scientists have debated the relative role genes play in schizophrenia - a condition which affects more than 24 million people worldwide - for many years.

 

Now a global consortium across 35 countries has examined the genetic make-up of more than 37,000 people with the condition, comparing them with some 110,000 people without the disease.

 

 

Scientists found more than 100 genes that make people more susceptible⁶ to schizophrenia- 83 of which have never been pinpointed⁷ before.

 

Many of these genes are involved in the relay of chemical messages around the brain. 

 

And others are known to be involved in the immune system - affecting the body's natural armoury against disease.

 

Prof Michael O'Donovan of Cardiff University who led the research said: "For many years it has been difficult to develop new lines of treatment for schizophrenia, hampered⁸ by a poor understanding of the biology of disease.

 

"Finding a whole new bunch of genetic associations opens a window for well-informed experiments to unlock the biology of this condition and we hope ultimately new treatments."

 

Prof David Curtis of University College London and one of the authors of the research told the BBC: "This study puts psychiatry⁹ into the same category as other parts of medicine.

 

"In the past we have struggled with the view that psychiatric conditions are not 'real' illnesses but early genetic studies had limited successes. 

 

"Now we show with confidence that there are biological processes going awry（失败，出错）." 

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