Table 1. The UK Adult Twin Registry Update.
Name of register | UK Adult Twin Registry (TwinsUK) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Kind of ascertainment | Volunteers unselected |
Opposite-sex twins (yes or no) | Yes |
Number of pairs (separated by birth range and sex) |
1900–1920: 22 FF; 2 MM; 2 FM 1920-1930: 390 FF; 70 MM; 4 FM 1930–1940: 1,518 FF; 189 MM; 32 FM 1940–1950: 2,480 FF; 308 MM; 58 FM 1950–1960: 2,172 FF; 429 MM; 88 FM 1960–1970: 1,889 FF; 486 MM; 62 FM 1970–1980: 1,356 FF; 394 MM; 42 FM 1980–2000: 558 FF; 124 MM; 40 FM |
Grand total | 10393 FF; 2002 MM; 328 FM (6369 pairs) |
Major interests | Common complex diseases and ageing traits |
Traits measured | Full questionnaires and clinical examinations on majority of twins for wide range of over 1,000 clinical and biochemical traits including: cardiovascular diseases, obesity, metabolic syndrome, respiratory diseases, dermatology, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, eye diseases, back diseases, coagulation system, immune function, cognitive function, gastro-intestinal system, pain thresholds, allergy, atopy, sexuality, pitch perception, and various aspects of personality. |
DNA samples | 13,458 aliquots from 7548 twins 9,321 aliquots from 5,965 twins stored as back up DNA samples from 995 parents and 1,227 siblings taken and stored |
Other samples | 119511 blood samples (65,980 serum, 43,527 plasma EDTA, 10004 plasma Li heparin) from 7,681 twins (16,677 back up samples) 28,276 urine samples from 7681 twins (16,677 back up samples) Range of 2 -76 aliquots of various specimens at multiple time points |
Comments | Monozygotic: Dizygotic ratio is approximately 1:1 Majority of twins are female with mean age of 55 years 5,710 twins with genome-wide association data 5,000 twins with DNA methylation data by the end of 2012 2,000 twins with next-generation sequencing data by the end of 2012 Data available for transcriptome across multiple tissues, telomere length, and metabolomic profile in different sub-samples |
Main sources of funding | Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council (MRC), British Heart Foundation, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Pfizer, Chronic Disease Research Foundation, and the European Union framework programmes |
Contact | Prof. Timothy D Spector |
Address | Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH |
tim.spector@kcl.ac.uk or victoria.vazquez@kcl.ac.uk | |
Website | www.twinsuk.ac.uk |
FF = female–female; MM = male–male; FM = female–male