At DNA Genotek, we recently learned the details of study being conducted by Generation Scotland called The Scottish Family Health Study. We wanted to share some of this information with you here on The Genetic Link.

Study overview

Generation Scotland is creating an ethically sound, family and population-based resource to identify the genetic basis of common complex diseases. The Generation Scotland Scottish Family Health Study is a large-scale, long-term project, which aims to find out more about common illnesses, such as heart disease and stroke. It is known that heredity plays a role in these diseases. By collecting medical and genetic information from families, and by following their health over the coming years, Generation Scotland hopes to find out which lifestyle and inherited factors are connected with higher or lower risk of these illnesses.

Main challenges

The Generation Scotland Scottish Family Health Study aims to collect phenotype information and blood for biochemical analysis and DNA isolation from 25,000 people living in Scotland. As the name suggests, the Scottish Family Health Study is based on families, so they need at least one sibling and preferably other family members (aged 18 or over) as well. The inclusion of as many family members as possible, especially from large families, will increase the power of the study. However, for a variety of reasons, not all participants can make a clinic appointment. Collecting DNA samples from relatives who live in geographically dispersed locations may not be possible within a clinic setting. Others may be inconvenienced by a visit to the clinic. To overcome this barrier to compliance and to maximize the number of study participants, Oragene•DNA kits are mailed to such participants, with instructions for self-collection.

To read the full case study on this study and how Oragene•DNA helped overcome their recruitment challenge, please click here.

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