[Translational genetics; expectations for eating disorders and other psychiatric disorders]

Translational (genetic) research focuses on the translation of preclinical research into practice. While many genetic studies have been conducted in recent years, the results do not simply translate to the clinic.
AIM: To visualize the steps through which translational genetic research contributes to the unraveling of the biological backgrounds of psychiatric disorders, in particular of eating disorders.
METHOD: Literature review.
RESULTS: Genetic studies have unraveled a mechanism underlying the hunger and satiety system. There is hope that genome-wide studies of eating disorders will lead to identification of neural circuits in which associated genes cluster. New techniques, such as opto- and chemogenetics, provide the opportunity to define the precise role of these circuits in eating disorders.
CONCLUSION: New techniques in molecular neuroscience allow the unravelling of the complexity of how the brain works and some of those techniques (such as chemogenetics) are being further developed for application in humans. However, it will be years before we can definitively translate this into the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
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