CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 31 It may sound morbid, even bizarre, but Sri Lankan scientists are going ahead anyway. In a bid to unravel the mystery behind Lanka’s soaring suicide rate—highest in South East Asia—anatomists will soon start picking the brains of the dead.

They will begin by extracting cells from adult cadaver brains and then get down to identifying ‘‘susceptible genes’’ that are pushing Lankans to the brink. The answer to the 10-fold rise in suicide rates from the 1950s to 1990s will emerge after ‘‘microarray studies’’ are done on these cells, says Dr Ranil De Silva, Senior Lecturer of Anatomy at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Nugedoga.

The first-of-its kind project will be undertaken by the university in collaboration with scientists from the National University of Singapore, says Dr De Silva. ‘‘An alarming 70,000 people have committed suicide from 1990 to 2000 in Sri Lanka, with an estimated 14 million suicide bids. The rate has increased by 10 times between 1950s to 1990s. To get to the root of the problem, we have decided to adopt a two-pronged approach. While the first would be an epidemiological study, the second one would involve taking brain cells of cadavers to zero in susceptible genes,,’’ he says.

‘‘The initial leads would be available in about six months,’’ adds Dr Silva, who heads the Neuroscience Society of Sri Lanka and is here for the national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society.

Also here for the annual conference is the National University of Singapore’s Dr Zhu Yi Zhun, who says, ‘‘by studying the new genes we would try to find out whether fear, anxiety, depression affects them which could trigger suicidal tendencies.’’

‘‘There are a lot of neuro factors... We have carried out a study of cadaver brains in Singapore where we have analysed 20 brains. The initial groundwork is done and the project would be started in the next few months,’’ says Dr Zhun, who has already made two trips to the island.

‘‘We have been granted one million Singapore dollars by the Ministry of Health, a large share of which would be utilised for the study,’’ he adds.

The study, Dr De Silva says, is fuelled by the knowledge that altered RNA expression levels can have profound influences on brain function.

  THE SUICIDE GRAPH  

• The age profile of those committing suicide in Sri Lanka is getting younger: the highest rate between 1950 and 1960 was noted in people above 60, in the next decade it was among those between 30-35 years. Of late, a majority of cases being reported are in the 15-30 years age group• 65 per cent of those committing suicide die due to organophospate poisoning while depression and schizophrenia account for 30-40 per cent suicides. Seven per cent have ended their lives by hanging and two per cent by jumping from trains

The epidemiological studies, Dr De Silva says, have already got off the ground with Sri Lankan experts preparing questionnaires for every hospital patient who has attempted suicide. In the case of those who have died, the questionnaire would be passed on to the next of kin to assess trigger factors.

The other problem scientists will focus on is the rising alcoholism level in Lanka and its possible connection to suicides, besides environment and genetic variants.