National

Depression

Opinion

Jen Vuk Writer October 9, 2025 — 3.39pm

No wonder Queensland-based neuro-geneticist Dr Jodi Thomas was looking quietly triumphant on national breakfast television this week.

The lead researcher had just unveiled proof that females carry a significantly higher genetic risk for major depression than males.

The major study by Queensland’s QMIR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, published in the journal Nature Communications , analysed the DNA of 200,000 people diagnosed with depression in Australia, Europe, the UK and US.

The scientists identified twice as many “red flags” of the condition in the DNA of females as males. They found about 7000 changes in DNA that could cause major depressive disorder in both sexes, and about 6000 more that could

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