The Netherlands Twin Register: Longitudinal Research Based on Twin and Twin-Family Designs

Lannie Ligthart, Catharina E M van Beijsterveldt, Sofieke T Kevenaar, Eveline L. de Zeeuw, Elsje van Bergen, Susanne Bruins, René Pool, Quinta Helmer, Jenny van Dongen, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Dennis Van't Ent, Conor V Dolan, Gareth E Davies, Erik A Ehli, Meike Bartels, Gonneke Willemsen, Eco J C de Geus, Dorret I Boomsma

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) is a national register in which twins, multiples and their parents, siblings, spouses and other family members participate. Here we describe the NTR resources that were created from more than 30 years of data collections; the development and maintenance of the newly developed database systems, and the possibilities these resources create for future research. Since the early 1980s, the NTR has enrolled around 120,000 twins and a roughly equal number of their relatives. The majority of twin families have participated in survey studies, and subsamples took part in biomaterial collection (e.g., DNA) and dedicated projects, for example, for neuropsychological, biomarker and behavioral traits. The recruitment into the NTR is all inclusive without any restrictions on enrollment. These resources - the longitudinal phenotyping, the extended pedigree structures and the multigeneration genotyping - allow for future twin-family research that will contribute to gene discovery, causality modeling, and studies of genetic and cultural inheritance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)623-636
Number of pages14
JournalTwin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2019

Funding

The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) grants 904-61-090, 985-10-002, 912-10-020, 904-61-193,480-04-004, 463-06-001, 451-04-034, 400-05-717, Addiction-31160008, 016-115-035, 481-08-011, 056-32-010, Middelgroot-911-09-032, OCW-NWO Gravity program-024.001.003, NWO-Groot 480-15-001/674, NWO Veni 451-15-017, Center for Medical Systems Biology (CSMB, NWO Genomics), NBIC/BioAssist/RK(2008.024), Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI-NL, 184.021.007 and 184.033.111); Spinozapremie (NWO-56-464-14192), KNAW Academy Professor Award (PAH/6635) and University Research Fellow grant (URF) to DIB; Amsterdam Public Health research institute (former EMGO+), Neuroscience Amsterdam research institute (former NCA); the European Science Foundation (ESF, EU/QLRT-2001-01254), the European Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007-2013, grant 01413: ENGAGE and grant 602768: ACTION); the European Research Council (ERC Starting 284167, ERC Consolidator 771057, ERC Advanced 230374), Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (NIMH U24 MH068457-06), the National Institutes of Health (NIH, R01D0042157-01A1, R01MH58799-03, MH081802, DA018673, R01 DK092127-04, Grand Opportunity grants 1RC2 MH089951 and 1RC2 MH089995); the Avera Institute for Human Genetics, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA). Part of the genotyping and analyses were funded by the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Computing was supported by NWO through grant 2018/EW/00408559, BiG Grid, the Dutch e-Science Grid and SURFSARA. Funding was obtained from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) grants 904-61-090, 985-10-002, 912-10-020, 904-61-193,480-04-004, 463-06-001, 451-04-034, 400-05-717, Addiction-31160008, 016-115-035, 481-08-011, 056-32-010, Middelgroot-911-09-032, OCW_NWO Gravity program-024.001.003, NWO-Groot 480-15-001/674, NWO Veni 451-15-017, Center for Medical Systems Biology (CSMB, NWO Genomics), NBIC/BioAssist/RK(2008.024), Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI-NL, 184.021.007 and 184.033.111); Spinozapremie (NWO-56-464-14192), KNAW Academy Professor Award (PAH/6635) and University Research Fellow grant (URF) to DIB; Amsterdam Public Health research institute (former EMGO+), Neuroscience Amsterdam research institute (former NCA); the European Science Foundation (ESF, EU/QLRT-2001-01254), the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007-2013, grant 01413: ENGAGE and grant 602768: ACTION); the European Research Council (ERC Starting 284167, ERC Consolidator 771057, ERC Advanced 230374), Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (NIMH U24 MH068457-06), the National Institutes of Health (NIH, R01D0042157-01A1, R01MH58799-03, MH081802, DA018673, R01 DK092127-04, Grand Opportunity grants 1RC2 MH089951 and 1RC2 MH089995); the Avera Institute for Human Genetics, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA). Part of the genotyping and analyses were funded by the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Computing was supported by NWO through grant 2018/EW/00408559, BiG Grid, the Dutch e-Science Grid and SURFSARA.

FundersFunder number
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute
Avera Institute for Human Genetics2018/EW/00408559
BBMRI-NL184.033.111, 184.021.007, NWO-56-464-14192
Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure
CSMB
Center for Medical Systems Biology
ENGAGE602768
ERC
ESFEU/QLRT-2001-01254
European Community's Seventh Framework Program
European Community’s Seventh Framework Program
European Research Council
European Science Foundation
FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007-201301413
KNAW
NBIC/BioAssist/RK2008.024
NIH
NIMH
NWO-Groot480-15-001/674, 451-15-017
National Institutes of Health
Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Neuroscience Amsterdam research institute
SURFsara
ZonMw016-115-035, 463-06-001, 481-08-011, 904-61-090, 904-61-193,480-04-004, 400-05-717, 451-04-034, 056-32-010, 985-10-002, 912-10-020
National Institutes of Health1RC2 MH089951, 1RC2 MH089995, R01 DK092127-04, DA018673, MH081802, R01D0042157-01A1, R01MH58799-03
National Institute of Mental HealthU24 MH068457-06
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme771057
European Research Council230374, 284167
European Science Foundation
Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van WetenschappenPAH/6635
ZonMw

    Cohort Studies

    • Netherlands Twin Register (NTR)

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The Netherlands Twin Register: Longitudinal Research Based on Twin and Twin-Family Designs'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this