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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC)

@pgcgenetics.bsky.social
666 followers 213 following 655 posts

With 1700+ international scientists & 900,000 participants, the PGC is the largest biological investigation in the history of psychiatry 🧬

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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
On September 10, we mark #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. It's time to remember those affected by suicide, to raise awareness, and to focus efforts on directing treatment to those who need it most.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Many of the psychiatric genetic associations were shared between BE and AN, such as strong genetic overlap with depression and anxiety. However, the associations with body measurement traits such as BMI, fat mass, and body fat percentage were in opposite directions.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The association of binge eating with the FTO locus remains even after removing BMI genetics, implicating a BMI-independent association of binge eating with this locus. Likewise, numerous AN loci demonstrated independence from BMI as well.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A case-case GWAS (CC-GWAS) was also run to investigate genetic differences between binge eating and anorexia. Regions highlighted in red in the Manhattan plot indicate genome-wide significant SNPs from the CC-GWAS.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Led by researchers from King’s College London, University of North Carolina, and Yale University, genome-wide association studies of ~39,000 participants with binge eating behavior and ~24,000 with anorexia nervosa were conducted.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Binge eating is a transdiagnostic eating disorder symptom, occurring in binge-eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN), and in some cases of anorexia nervosa. It is marked by eating a large amount of food coupled with a feeling of loss of control.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
✨Publication alert!✨The Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED) has, for the first time, identified genetic factors associated with binge eating and compared them to the genetic factors linked to anorexia nervosa. doi.org/10.1038/s442...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
🔗We found genetic correlations with 64/105 traits, incl. depression & anxiety disorders (rg=0.71-0.85), OCD (0.58), IBS (0.57), migraine (0.27) & endometriosis (0.27). These may reflect shared genetic risk or anxiety linked to living with a condition, but don't imply causation.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
🌍We created polygenic scores (indices of genetic 'risk') & tested them in independent samples of European, African, & South Asian genetic ancestries. Significant associations with modest predictive power were observed across all ancestries (r2=1.2%-2.9%).
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
📊Anxiety exists on a spectrum, from adaptive threat responses to clinically impairing symptoms. Anxiety disorders sit at the upper end, crossing a threshold of distress & impairment. But biology doesn't always respect the cut-off, & measuring the full range boosts power.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
🔬Most psychiatric genetic studies use a case-control design, comparing people with and without a diagnosis. We took a quantitative approach instead, measuring anxiety symptom severity on a continuous scale.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
📢 New publication in @nathumbehav.nature.com from the PGC Anxiety Working Group: the largest GWAS of generalised anxiety symptoms to date, analysing ~700k across 14 cohorts. We found 74 genome-wide significant loci, 39 novel for anxiety.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
5/ The session will also explore: • culturally adapted phenotyping • ethical and infrastructure challenges • advanced genomic analyses • cross-ancestry discovery • polygenic prediction across diverse populations
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
4/ Featured initiatives include: 🧠 DepGenAfrica Consortium 🧬 Uganda Genome Resource 👶 Drakenstein Child Health Study 🌍 Multi-country African psychiatric genomics collaborations highlighting the growing scale and sophistication of psychiatric genomics research in Africa.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
3/ The symposium will feature researchers working across: • Depression genomics • Population genomics • Child development • Psychosis mapping using cohorts from continental Africa and the African diaspora.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
2/ African populations harbour the greatest human genetic diversity in the world, yet remain underrepresented in genomic research. Expanding large-scale African cohorts is critical for equity, improving biological discovery, fine-mapping resolution, and cross-ancestry transferability.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
1/ We conclude this Twitter takeover spotlighting an upcoming symposium at #WCPG2026 “Advancing Psychiatric Genomics through Large-Scale African Cohorts” 🌍🧬 The session will highlight how African cohorts are reshaping psychiatric genetics globally @ispg.bsky.social
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Two possible reasons explain this: 1) Eastern and Southern African ancestry remains severely underrepresented in reference databases like GnomAD, and 2) it is possible that African populations have the greatest human genetic diversity.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
These matches may lead to novel gene associations with NDDs. NeuroDev participants carry more rare variants compared to NDD cohorts of any other ancestry. NeuroDev participants carry more rare variants compared to NDD cohorts of any other ancestry.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Final #PipelinePeek [Unpublished data]: For a long time, the "DNA risk scores" (PRS) used to predict mental health conditions were based mostly on people of European descent. But our genes are diverse! see poster 👇
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
#PipelinePeek [Unpublished data]: Beyond the Virus: How HIV and Life Experiences "Rewrite" Your Biology 🧬🌍 Other exciting research from @pgc-africa.bsky.social Early-career scientists uncovers a fascinating connection between our physical health and our mental history! posters👇
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
#PipelinePeek [Unpublished data]: Unlocking the Secrets of a Healthy Start! 👶✨@pgc-africa.bsky.social Early Career Scientists from @suhealthsci.bsky.social Lauren Martin and Colleagues investigate how a mother’s health and a baby’s environment shape a child's growing brain. 🧠👇
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
The DepGenAfrica research has increased the representation of African data in our understanding and management of Major depressive disorder. This study was not just about taking data out of Africa; it emphasizes building "science power" on the continent.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Today, we would highlight the Master plan from the DepGenAfrica Study Protocol by one of PGC Africa's @pgc-africa.bsky.social co-chairs Dr. Adeniran Okewole and colleagues 📝🌍 wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/10-...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Hello from the PGC Africa working group 👋 Today, we begin our takeover to share with you exciting happenings from the working group and its members🎉This takeover is proudly brought to you by @pgc-africa.bsky.social Africa Comms and Outreach team. Stay tuned!
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Below you will find the genetic correlations with other psychiatric diagnoses
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
New autism GWAS incoming! At #INSAR2026, @jakobgrove.bsky.social presented the latest updates on the yet-to-be-released autism GWAS. Curious about the findings? Find them below ⬇️
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
#INSAR2026 's Saturday could be described as ‘genetics day’, as it started with an impressive keynote by the even more impressive @angelicaronald.bsky.social
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
🧬Autism is influenced by a combination of common variants with small effects, and rare variants with large effects (see below for a great plot, from tinyurl.com/TomaTrends)
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
One more fun fact: The human genome contains about 3.2 Gb of data. That is way less than most modern operating systems!
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The masterclass was intended for those who are not geneticists themselves. Some fun facts about genetics ⤵️ Did you know how the word 'genome' came to be?
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Looking back at an amazing #INSAR2026 conference full of genetics. INSAR 2026 started with a masterclass in fundamentals, including an amazing and accessible talk by @stephansanders.bsky.social providing an overview of what genetics research is, and how we can (and can not) use it.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
🔗 Genetic correlations were found with 64/105 traits, incl. highest with depression & anxiety disorders (rg = 0.71-0.85), OCD (0.58), IBS (0.57), migraine (0.27) & endometriosis (0.27)
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
🧵 New preprint from the PGC Anxiety Working Group: the largest GWAS of generalised anxiety symptoms to date, analysing 700k across 14 cohorts. 📄 Skelton et al found 74 genome-wide significant loci, 39 novel for anxiety doi.org/10.1101/2025...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
🔗 Panic was genetically correlated with anxiety disorders (rg = 0.90-0.94), depression (0.78-0.84), PTSD (0.63-0.67), & heart disease (0.20-0.21), reinforcing a genetic link between panic and cardiovascular health.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
🔬 Peripheral neuron associations weren't unique to panic. Bipolar disorder, depression, & dimensional anxiety also showed significant enrichment in some of these cell types, pointing to shared pathways across psychiatric conditions
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
🫀🫁👁️ Single-cell analysis implicated neurons from the heart, lungs, and eyes in panic attacks. These organs are commonly affected during panic attacks: racing heart, breathlessness, & visual disturbance.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
🧵 Mitchell et al. report the first genome-wide significant loci for panic attacks (16 loci; 61,746 cases) & panic disorder (7 loci; 29,775 cases), combining data from 5 international cohorts. 📄Preprint on medRxiv doi.org/10.1101/2025...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
📊 Female anxiety showed a stronger genetic correlation with ADHD (surviving FDR correction) & BMI. Male anxiety was more strongly correlated with waist-hip-ratio adjusted BMI, suggesting different adiposity pathways may underlie sex-specific genetic overlap between anxiety and body weight
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
🔗 Genetic correlation between females & males was high (rg = 0.90) but significantly different from 1, indicating a largely shared but not identical genetics. SNP-based heritability was significantly higher in females, though this depends on assumptions about how common anxiety is in each sex
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
🧬 Are the genetics of anxiety different in females and males? In a new preprint, Hu et al. report the first sex-specific GWAS meta-analysis of anxiety disorders, combining UK Biobank and All of Us: 85,000 female cases & 36,720 male cases 📄 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
🧠 In the European genetic ancestry analysis, 33 sites mapped to 18 genes including RARA, LRIG1, & FURIN. Most sites showed reduced methylation in GAD cases, while African & Latin American ancestry analyses showed the opposite pattern
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
🧬 DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that can influence gene expression. What role does it play in generalised anxiety disorder? Gupta et al. conducted one of the largest epigenome-wide association studies of GAD in 45.5k from the Million Veteran Program 📄 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
🔬Does inflammation play a role in anxiety? Mac Giollabhui et al. triangulated observational, Mendelian randomization (MR) & genetic risk score analyses of inflammatory markers in ~55k from the Lifelines cohort 📄 doi.org/10.1038/s413...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
📊Stronger shared genetics with GAD: neuroticism, anorexia nervosa, & bipolar disorder type I (but not type II). Genetically, fear-based disorders lie at the opposite end from BD-I, with GAD & depression sitting between bipolar disorders & fear.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
🔬 They meta-analysed 3 datasets for GWAS: @gladstudy.bsky.social, @ukbiobank.ac.uk, & #AGDS. Fear & GAD were highly genetically correlated, mostly sharing genetics (incl. w/ depression, PTSD, insomnia). But 12 traits differed in their genetic relationship with fear vs GAD
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
🧬How genetically similar are fear & GAD? A new preprint by ter Kuile et al. addresses this via their GWAS of fear-based disorders as a group (panic, agoraphobia, specific phobia, social anxiety) & a separate GWAS of GAD.
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
🧵 A new review in Molecular Psychiatry by Ohi et al. takes a look at the clinical and genetic features of five anxiety disorders through the lens of anxiety, fear, & avoidance doi.org/10.1038/s413...
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Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) @pgcgenetics.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
🧬The gap between twin heritability & SNP heritability (explained by common genetic variants) likely reflects contributions from rare variants, epigenetic changes, & other mechanisms incl. gene-environment interplay. We'll be covering new research on these over the next 2 weeks!
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