The Gene Bank is comprised of health, genealogical and genetic data contributed by the voluntary gene donors. If you are interested in contributing to the Estonian Genome Center (EGC) and in joining its Gene Bank of you should contact your general practitioner (GP) or one of EGC’s patient recruitment offices and make an appointment. Your GP or a data collector will provide you with more detailed information about the Genome Project.
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign a Gene Donor Consent Form. Next, the GP or data collector will assist you in filling out the gene donor questionnaire, after which a blood sample will be taken.
The blood sample and your signed consent form will be delivered to the Gene Bank by a special courier. The completed questionnaires will be sent to the Gene Bank electronically, in an encrypted form. In the coding centre of the Gene Bank, the information in the personal data section of your questionnaire will be extracted and replaced with a 16-digit code. The health data that have been separated from your personal data will be stored in the Gene Bank’s database.
Your DNA, the carrier of your genetic information, will be extracted from the blood sample in the laboratory of the EGC. The separated DNA will be placed in the secure storage facility of the EGC. Based on the DNA preserved in the storage facility, it is possible to create a personal LD map for each gene donor. In the future, such maps will be created for all donors.
The anonymized data stored in the Gene Bank allows researchers to study the links between the genes and diseases.
