Thousands of Scots families to help scientists improve nation's health

Generation Scotland, an ambitious and ground-breaking project looking at the ways genetic and lifestyle factors cause cancer, heart disease and mental illness was launched recently.

Leading doctors and scientists from the medical schools at the Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow are driving forward the multi-million pound project, which will follow the health of 50,000 Scots family members over the next generation.

Professor Andrew Morris, Chair of Diabetic Medicine at the University and Scotland's leading clinician on diabetes, is Chairman of the Generation Scotland Scientific Committee that oversees the research programme.

"Generation Scotland is exceptional in its scale and design. We are delighted that after years of careful preparation we are in a position to create a uniquely Scottish resource of the highest international standing, which has the potential to shape everyday clinical care and modern public health strategies," he said.

"Many of Scotland's leading scientists, epidemiologists and social science researchers have contributed enormously to the development of Generation Scotland and we are now ready to build upon this momentum by working with thousands of families across Scotland to create a resource that will inform the separate and combined effects of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors on human health and disease."

"Generation Scotland has proven the benefits of collaboration on three fronts: firstly we have created a unique collaboration between all the medical schools in Scotland and other key scientific institutions; secondly we have built important bridges between NHS and academic colleagues, which raises the exciting possibility of accelerating research findings into clinical practice. Most importantly through our public consultation work we are forging a collaboration with the Scottish people to create a scientific resource for the public good."

The launch of Generation Scotland is the culmination of many years of planning and will keep Scotland at the forefront of healthcare genetics. The project will be conducted in full and close collaboration with the NHS in Scotland. Recruitment will start in Tayside and Glasgow, expanding to the rest of Scotland.

The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Funding Council are funding the project with initial grants of £4.4m and £1.8m respectively.

The scientific partners have begun collecting health and genetic data from Scottish families to build a rich store of material to explore the causes of common diseases. Families are being invited to help the Generation Scotland team explore not only the inherited nature of some diseases, but also look at how lifestyle, diet and environment influence the development of conditions like heart disease, dementia, cancer, diabetes and other common diseases.

The findings will help identify those at high risk of developing genetic conditions, and allow early treatments with new drugs designed to combat such diseases. The genetic information will also help adapt prescription drugs to individual needs.

The first wave of volunteers to the study, those aged 35-55 and their family members, are being recruited through general practitioners, and will provide confidentially and anonymous stored biological samples and medical information for the databank. Importantly, Generation Scotland has launched a programme of consultation to gain feedback and opinions from members of the public about the research and how it is conducted, and this programme will run through the course of the project.