Genetic Biobank of the Faroes
In June 2006 the Genetic Biobank (Ílegusavnið) started its efforts to develop the infrastructure to establish and maintain an active biobank, and to utilize such a resource in conjunction with medical and genealogical data to support research projects aimed at discovering the relationship between genetic background, environmental influences and disease onset and progression. The current population of the Faroe is approximately 49.000. The population these last 200 years is estimated to be approximately 180.000.
The Genetic Biobank is a governmental institution under the Ministry of Health www.hmr.fo, with a mandate to organize, develop and administer a Tissue Registry (biobank), a Diagnosis Registry and a Genealogy Registry and to process applications for permission to access and study the information contained in the said registries. A nationwide genealogy registry covering several centuries (~ 4 centuries) is being constructed and will be available in 2011/2012 but is currently available in a beta version. The Genetic Biobank is the official institution authorized to conduct genetic research on human tissue from individuals registered in the Faroes. All organizations wishing to use Faroese samples and diagnostic information can do so by entering a contractual research agreement with the Genetic Biobank. The first pilot projects and preparatory projects started in the autum 2007.
