The Researchers that discovered a connection of some specific genes with suicide, affirmed that this research can help in development of effective treatments for many mental disorders. The group of researchers led by Michael Poulter of the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. and Hymie Anisman of Carleton's Neuroscience Research Institute at Carleton University in Ottawa, compared the brains of people who committed suicide with the brain of people who died from heart attacks or natural causes. Researchers discovered the proteins that can chemically modify DNA directly. The study showed the presence of high quantity of a particular protein in the brains of people who committed suicide.

Researchers found that the chemical that can modify DNA in brain cells, was 10 times higher in people who had committed suicide.

Dr. Poulter said, "We have about 40,000 genes in every cell and the main reason a brain cell is a brain cell is because only a small fraction of the genes are turned on. The remaining genes that are not expressed are shut down by an epigenetic process called DNA methylation."
He added that the methylation process was much greater in the suicide brains than that of the control group.

He added that this research could help in discovery of effective medicine to tackle depression and suicidal instincts. The researchers explained that many current treatments for depressive disorders made in order to treat chemical imbalances in the brain. Sometimes these medicines are not effective because the real reason behind depression is genetic malfunctions.

Researchers believe that with the help of this research an effective medicine can be developed to balance the amount of protein that affects a gene that normally help people to cope up with stress. Researchers are still not sure about the circumstances that affect the level of this protein in brain. Researchers are unsure about the fact that the people who suffer from major depression, but die from other causes, have the same genetic malfunctions as those who take their own lives.