Abstract
Epidemiological evidence such as twin studies have indicated high heritability for suicide. Since higher lethality of suicidal behavior is deemed to increase familial liability to suicidal behavior, we believe biological research of completed suicide is crucial to elucidate the genetic architecture underlying suicidal behavior. However, genetic research of complete suicide lags behind due to difficulty in obtaining samples from individuals who died by suicide. Under the difficult situation, we now retain one of the largest genomic samples of completed suicide thanks to bereaved family’s cooperation, and recently performed a first GWAS for completed suicide in the Japanese population. Here, we review the latest findings regarding the genetics of suicide mainly with introducing our own results.
