14 May 2009
Biobanks mean genetic research boost
Two new UK initiatives, TwinBank and Baby Bio Bank, will provide exciting new opportunities for genetic research. TwinBank will hold information from 300,000 pairs of twins, allowing researchers to study genetic and environmental factors involved in diseases, without using GM animals.
TwinBank will be based at the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, Kings College London, and will be the largest of its kind in the UK, allowing researchers to study rarer diseases as well as more common ones.
Baby Bio Bank will hold medical history and blood samples from both parents, plus cord blood and placenta samples, for research into the significance of inheritance in complications during pregnancy. Baby Bio Bank will be the first institute in the world to have such comprehensive information from all family members.