Investigating schizophrenia in a “dish”: possibilities, potential and limitations

Abstract

Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are the most human of conditions, and the idea that they could be studied in a cell culture dish might appear counterintuitive. But advances in genetics and stem cell biology are placing in vitro approaches centre stage in furthering our biological understanding of these illnesses. Genome-wide association studies and screens for rare genetic variants are now implicating a host of novel genes in susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Concurrently, advances in stem cell biology are providing human nerve cells in a dish, allowing molecular, developmental and pathophysiological events to be studied with considerable veracity. Here, we examine current human cell culture technologies and ask how far they might go in advancing our understanding and treatment of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.