TwinsUK (2012-2014) - an epidemiological and genomic resource.

TwinsUK will keep its doors open—thousands of DNA, blood, and urine samples from 7,000 twins will be transferred to a biobank, barcoded, and made available to scientists worldwide. This matters because the TwinsUK resource is one of the UK’s most valuable assets for genetic epidemiology—the study of how genes and environment together shape health and disease. For nearly 20 years, researchers have tracked the health of identical and non-identical twins, whose shared and differing genetics allow scientists to tease apart inherited risk from lifestyle factors. Without continued funding, this unique dataset would stagnate, and the scientific community would lose access to a resource that has already powered major international genome-wide association studies. If this work succeeds, researchers will gain faster, easier access to high-quality, quality-controlled data and biological samples. That could accelerate discoveries about the genetic underpinnings of common diseases—from diabetes to heart disease—and help identify new drug targets or preventive strategies. The project also aims to recruit twins from seven London boroughs, improving ethnic diversity and making future findings more relevant to the UK’s actual population. The impact here is on research infrastructure itself: a quietly essential system that keeps biomedical science moving.