Journal Article

The Danish Twin Registry: linking surveys, national registers, and biological information

Skytthe, A., Christiansen, L., Kyvik, K. O., Bødker, F. L., Hvidberg, L., Petersen, I., Nielsen, M. M. F., Bingley, P., Hjelmborg, J. v. B., Tan, Q., Holm, N. V., Vaupel, J. W., McGue, M., Christensen, K.
Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16:1, 104–111 (2013)

Abstract

Over the last 60 years, the resources and the research in the Danish Twin Registry (DTR) have periodically been summarized. Here, we give a short overview of the DTR and a more comprehensive description of new developments in the twenty-first century. First, we outline our experience over the last decade of combining questionnaire and survey data with national demographic, social, and health registers in Statistics Denmark. Second, we describe our most recent data collection effort, which was conducted during the period 2008–2011 and included both in-person assessments of 14,000+ twins born 1931–1969 and sampling of biological material, hereby expanding and consolidating the DTR biobank. Third, two examples of intensively studied twin cohorts are given. The new developments in the DTR in the last decade have facilitated the ongoing research and laid the groundwork for new research directions.
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.