Message from director
Twin registries in Malaysia and all over the world are providing the foundation for invaluable research into the causes of health problems and diseases. Identical or monozygotic twins (MZ) grow from one egg (a combination of sperm and ovum) and share the same genes which translate to the same physical characteristics. This means that they inherit their parents genes and therefore any difference in terms of their development, health issues or diseases could be the result of environmental factors such as intra uterine environment, diet, smoking, bad habits and any other factors that influences their health during their childhood, adolescence or adulthood. Studying the MZ twins makes it possible to discover more about the effects of such environmental influences.
Dizygotic twins (DZ) grow from two eggs meaning that although they might share some of the genes (about 25%) of their parents, they only have as many genes in common as their ordinary brothers and sisters. The reason scientists are interested to study this group of twins is that they are usually brought up in the same family environment and their general exposure to social, emotional and psychological determinant of health are more uniform than any other individuals of the same age.
One of the major lines of investigations on routes of genetic predisposition and causes of diseases focuses on MZ and DZ differences. By comparing the results of studies of non-identical twins with the result of studies of identical twins, it is possible to discover the relative importance of inherited to environmental causes of human differences.
Now that you know how twins can contribute in generation of knowledge on causes of diseases, you can imagine why it is important to join this great cause. When twins join, they are given a registration number and their names, addresses and other information is stored confidentially on a database. This is updated every month and new members are added. Our resources are inclusive of data from public and private hospitals, schools, universities, and are entirely volunteer-based. Access to database is controlled by the scientific advisory committee. Information on twins addresses and contacts will be only given to researchers who have obtained ethical approval from National Medical Research Registry. Names and addresses of twins will not be given to any researchers without the prior consent of the twins concerned. Many of the researches would involve filling up a questionnaire which will be received by twins via mail or email. Studies that include any type of examination, blood or urine sampling will require specific permission and approval from Clinical Research Council.
Twin registry in Malaysia is founded in June 2008 by Royal College of Medicine, Perak; University of Kuala Lumpur. I am glad to announce the birth of twin registry and herewith invite all twins and researchers from all over Malaysia to join us in fighting against diseases and promoting education on health issues. The success of this registry totally depends upon twin participation. For that very reason, we will make sure that twins would also benefit. We have designed many programs which serve to educate twins re health issues, establish a community to provide emotional, social and psychological support via construction of a network and support families of twins. Lets work together to build a healthy environment for our twins and a better future for our next generation.
Dr. Shayesteh Jahanfar
Chief Investigator and Director