The Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a 20-year nationwide survey of the health, economic and social status of older Americans, has added genetic information from consenting participants to its massive database. Supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the HRS is the premier database for studying retirement and the baby boom generation.
On March 15, genetic data from approximately 13,000 individuals were posted to dbGAP, the NIH’s online genetics database. The data are comprised of approximately 2.5 million genetic markers from each person and are immediately available for analysis by qualified researchers. Data were obtained from saliva samples collected from HRS participants since 2006.
“The addition of genetic data provides a major new dimension for the study and is expected to result in much deeper insights into how we age,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, MD. “With detailed information on genetic background, combined with the wealth of data on important aspects of the lives of older people, researchers will be better able to describe the spectrum of behavioral and environmental risk factors for disease and disability as well as those that may protect our health.”
Data from a total of 20,000 HRS participants are expected to be posted to the database by the end of 2013, enabling genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to be conducted. The GWAS technology will allow researchers to conduct studies of survivorship, longevity, and genetic determinants of aging, along with studies of complex disease traits, physiological measures and functions, biomarkers, and physical performance. The longitudinal design of the HRS greatly enhances the power to detect genetic effects and to study determinants of age-dependent changes in health and function.
“Adding genetic data to this longitudinal study has the potential to revolutionize behavioral and social research,” says Richard Suzman, PhD, director of NIA’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research and a co-founder of the study. “The new genetics information will be the largest nationally representative sample in NIH’s genetic database.”
The NIA renewed its support of the HRS in December 2011. The cooperative agreement between the NIA and the University of Michigan was extended for six years. Funding for the current fiscal year is $13.3 million; funding for the entire renewal period may total about $82 million. The Social Security Administration, which has been a longstanding supporter of the HRS, provided $4.2 million in fiscal year 2011.
Source: National Institutes of Health
