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India's Opportunities and Challenges in Establishing a Twin Registry: An Unexplored Human Resource for the World's Second-Most Populous Nation. Twin Res Hum Genet 2022; 25:156-164. [PMID: 35786423 DOI: 10.1017/thg.2022.24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Nature and nurture have always been a prerogative of evolutionary biologists. The environment's role in shaping an organism's phenotype has always intrigued us. Since the inception of humankind, twinning has existed with an unsettled parley on the contribution of nature (i.e. genetics) versus nurture (i.e. environment), which can influence the phenotypes. The study of twins measures the genetic contribution and that of the environmental influence for a particular trait, acting as a catalyst, fine-tuning the phenotypic trajectories. This is further evident because a number of human diseases show a spectrum of clinical manifestations with the same underlying molecular aberration. As of now, there is no definite way to conclude just from the genomic data the severity of a disease or even to predict who will get affected. This greatly justifies initiating a twin registry for a country as diverse and populated as India. There is an unmet need to set up a nationwide database to carefully curate the information on twins, serving as a valuable biorepository to study their overall susceptibility to disease. Establishing a twin registry is of paramount importance to harness the wealth of human information related to the biomedical, anthropological, cultural, social and economic significance.
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Bahari Shargh R, Rostami S, Abtahi H, Shariat M, Mardaneh J, Noughi F, Hosein Lookzadeh M, Khorsandi B, Zendehdel K. The Iranian Newborn Multiples Registry (IRNMR): a registry protocol. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2021; 35:5213-5216. [PMID: 34126847 DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2021.1875445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Purpose: Over the last decades, several twin/multiples registries have been developed worldwide, mostly concentrated in Europe and high-income countries (HICs). In Iran, we lack accurate nationwide epidemiological and biobank data on twins. We established the Iranian Newborn Multiples Registry (IRNMR) to evaluate the role of genetics and environmental factors in the variation of phenotypes among newborn monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs. IRNMR is a multicenter hospital-based registry. Materials and methods: In the pilot phase, we collected epidemiological data from multiples born in Imam Khomeini Hospital complex and Aban Hospital located in Tehran, the capital of Iran, with a population exceeding 8 million, Allameh Bohlool Gonabadi Hospital, Gonabad, Razavi Khorasan, and Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran. Results: The IRNMR has recruited 457 sets of newborn twins and multiples so far. We hold follow-up sessions by mother and child health professionals to monitor multiples' growth, development, diseases, and mortality. Conclusions: We successfully developed a newborn multiples registry in Iran. This registry will create an invaluable database to study the relative influence of genes and environmental factors on various chronic diseases, growth, development, and behavioral disorders. We intend to collaborate with other centers to develop a large multicenter nationwide multiple birth registry and biobank in Iran.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roza Bahari Shargh
- Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sahar Rostami
- Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.,Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hamidreza Abtahi
- Thoracic Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mamak Shariat
- Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jalal Mardaneh
- Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, and Infectious Diseases Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Noughi
- Comprehensive Research Laboratory, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran
| | | | - Behjat Khorsandi
- Research Center for Nursing and Midwifery Care, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
| | - Kazem Zendehdel
- Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.,Cancer Biology Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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