Information for Teachers
Do you teach twins?
The Queensland Twin Registry (QTwin) is an independent population based registry of identical and non-identical twins of all ages. QTwin is now seeking school aged twins to register with our registry and we hope science teachers in Queensland may be able to encourage the families of twins at their school to register with QTwin and participate in twin research.
Twins play an important role in specific and medical research and can help extend scientific understanding of what makes us human, the things that keep us well and the things that make us sick.
Many of the factors that affect our health and cause disease are genetic (we inherited them from our parents, and grandparents) and many are also due to things that happen in our environments (for example, how much sun we are exposed to influences our risk of getting melanoma). The purpose of twin studies is to study the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences for behavioural characteristics and health and illness.
The Queensland Twin Registry (QTwin) was established by Professor Nick Martin, the head of the Genetic Epidemiology Unit at Queensland Institute of Medical Research in 2006. All adult & child twins, born in or currently living in Queensland are eligible to register. Triplets & other multiples are also eligible to register. Professor Martin has worked in the field of twin research for over 30 years and has an outstanding international reputation. He has published over 600 research papers on many aspects of twin research and is editor of the International Journal
“Twin Research”.
Through out the world, twins have participated in projects investigating cancer, migraine and headache, anxiety and depression, eczema, asthma, alcohol and tobacco use, ADHD, endometriosis, weight, glaucoma, reading ability and personality differences.