NTR — Netherlands Twin Register
Overview
The Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) is a national twin and twin-family registry run by the Department of Biological Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Since 1986 it has enrolled around 120,000 twins and a roughly equal number of relatives, collecting longitudinal survey data on mental and physical health, personality, and behaviour. A dedicated NTR biobank, established in 2004, has collected DNA and other biomaterial from close to 10,000 participants for genomic and omics research. Samples contributed by the NTR were sequenced as part of the Genome of the Netherlands project, with the resulting data deposited in the European Genome-phenome Archive.
Scale
- Twins and relatives enrolled since 1986: ~120,000 twins, a similar number of relatives
- Biobank (since 2004): DNA and other biomaterial from close to 10,000 participants
Access
Access to survey and phenotype data requires application through the NTR data access procedure. Genomic data contributed to the Genome of the Netherlands project is available through the European Genome-phenome Archive under controlled access.
Connections
- relatedTo: EGA (samples contributed to the Genome of the Netherlands project were deposited in the European Genome-phenome Archive)
- relatedTo: Genome of the Netherlands (NTR was one of five contributing biobanks)
- operatedBy: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Resources
- https://tweelingenregister.vu.nl
- https://ega-archive.org/studies/EGAS00001000644 (Genome of the Netherlands, EGA study page)
- https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2019.93 (Ligthart et al. 2019, cohort profile)