Video feature: The Bipolar Blues - Finding the genes associated with bipolar disorder

4 March 2011

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that affects approximately one in every 100 adults. For those affected, severe mood disturbances - either highly elevated or strongly depressed - can make normal functioning extremely difficult.

In this film, we meet 'Twink', former photographer for The Jam, who has experienced the extremes of bipolar disorder for more than two decades. Twink is presently a patron of MDF The Bipolar Organisation and is passionate about helping Professor Nicholas Craddock, based at the Cardiff University School of Medicine, in his research to discover the underlying genetic factors that lead to this condition.

Professor Craddock, who is also featured in the film, was one of the main investigators in the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium study, in which around 2000 human genomes were studied for genetic hints to why certain people develop this mood disorder. He and his team continue to find and scrutinise the DNA of volunteers through the Bipolar Disorder Research Network, the largest study of bipolar disorder in the world, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Stanley Medical Research Institute.

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Running time: 4 min 41 s
Read the transcript [PDF 77.8KB]
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