Twin studies are studies conducted on identical or fraternal twins. They aim to reveal the importance of environmental and genetic influences for traits, phenotypes, and disorders. Twin research is considered a key tool in behavioral genetics and in related fields, from biology to psychology. Twin studies are part of the broader methodology used in behavior genetics, which uses all data that are genetically informative – siblings studies, adoption studies, pedigree, etc. These studies have been used to track traits ranging from personal behavior to the presentation of severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-born British psychologist who spent his professional career in Great Britain. He is best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, although he worked on other issues in psychology. At the time of his death, Eysenck was the most frequently cited living psychologist in the peer-reviewed scientific journal literature.
Human behaviour genetics is an interdisciplinary subfield of behaviour genetics that studies the role of genetic and environmental influences on human behaviour. Classically, human behavioural geneticists have studied the inheritance of behavioural traits. The field was originally focused on determining the importance of genetic influences on human behaviour. It has evolved to address more complex questions such as: how important are genetic and/or environmental influences on various human behavioural traits; to what extent do the same genetic and/or environmental influences impact the overlap between human behavioural traits; how do genetic and/or environmental influences on behaviour change across development; and what environmental factors moderate the importance of genetic effects on human behaviour. The field is interdisciplinary, and draws from genetics, psychology, and statistics. Most recently, the field has moved into the area of statistical genetics, with many behavioural geneticists also involved in efforts to identify the specific genes involved in human behaviour, and to understand how the effects associated with these genes changes across time, and in conjunction with the environment.
The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute is an Australian medical research institute located in Herston, Brisbane, in the state of Queensland. QIMR was established in 1945 by the Government of Queensland through the enactment of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Act 1945 (Qld). Previously known as the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), the original purpose of the institute was to further the study of tropical diseases in North Queensland. The current director is Professor Fabienne Mackay. The institute is a registered charity. In 2021, the institute was named as one of the Queensland Greats by the Queensland Government.
Michael F. Good was the Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, from 2000 to 2010. He was Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Dorret I. Boomsma is a Dutch biological psychologist specializing in genetics and twin studies.
Genopolitics is the study of the genetic basis of political behavior and attitudes. It combines behavior genetics, psychology, and political science and it is closely related to the emerging fields of neuropolitics and political physiology.
The International Society for Twin Studies (ISTS) is an international, non-profit scientific organization. The aim of the society is to advance research and knowledge in all fields of science related to twins and/or twin studies, for the benefit of both twins and their families as well as worldwide scientific communities.
Lindon J. Eaves (1944–2022) was a behavior geneticist and priest who has published on topics as diverse as the heritability of religion and psychopathology. His research encompasses the development of mathematical models reflecting competing theories of the causes and familial transmission of human human differences, the design of studies for the resolution, analytical methods for parameter estimation and hypothesis-testing and application to substantive questions about specific (human) traits. He was the first to consider standardized variance components for heritability estimates and was the first to consider the effects of living with a relative on the behavior of a person. Furthermore, he was the first to think about genotype x age interaction and set up the algebra to study the effects of genes working in males as well as females, making it possible to use twins pairs of opposite-sex. Together with Nick Martin, he wrote many classic papers, one of which is "The genetic analysis of covariance structure". They also wrote the book, Genes, culture and personality: An empirical approach. In 2012, a Festschrift was held in Edinburgh dedicated to Eaves' work; the proceedings were subsequently published in Behavior Genetics.
Georgia Chenevix-Trench is an Australian cancer researcher who investigates genetic predispositions to cancer.
Frank Gannon was the seventh Director of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia. He is a molecular biologist and has held high-profile appointments in scientific management and research in Ireland, England, the United States, France, Germany and Australia.
Adele Chandler Green is an Australian epidemiological senior scientist at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane and is the institute's Head of Cancer and Population Studies Group.
Alan Frederick Cowman AC, FRS, FAA, CorrFRSE, FAAHMS, FASP, FASM is an internationally acclaimed malaria researcher whose work specialises in researching the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the molecular mechanisms it uses to evade host responses and antimalarial drugs. He is currently deputy directory of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, and his laboratory continues to work on understanding how Plasmodium falciparum, infects humans and causes disease. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 2011 and awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his "eminent service to the biological sciences, notably to molecular parasitology, to medical research and scientific education, and as a mentor."
Multiple abstract variance analysis (MAVA), is a statistical technique used to estimate the proportion of variance in a phenotypic trait due to genetic and environmental factors. It was developed by psychologist Raymond B. Cattell in order to enable the analysis of data from multiple independent sources to estimate the causes of trait variation. Cattell originally described the technique in a 1960 paper. MAVA aims to estimate the relative genetic and environmental contributions to trait variation by comparing variances between families to those within families on the trait under study. As such, it is considered a "more systematic and comprehensive approach" than the classical correlation method of heritability estimation. MAVA later formed the basis of Cattell's 16PF Questionnaire.
Professor Anne Kelso is an Australian biomedical researcher specialising in immunology and influenza. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
David Alexander Cesarini is an associate professor in the Department of Economics & Center for Experimental Social Science at New York University, a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, as well as affiliated researcher at the Research Institute for Industrial Economics (IFN). He is an empirically oriented economist with interests in social-science genetics, applied microeconomics and behavioral economics—especially known for his research in genoeconomics and the heritability of economic behaviors and attitudes, such as investing decisions and confidence.
Sarah Elizabeth Medland is Professor and Psychiatric Genetics Group Leader at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Herston, Brisbane, Australia. She played a major role in the development of the ENIGMA brain imaging consortium.
Michelle Luciano is a Professor at the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the use of twin studies to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to human behavior.She has conducted research on the relationship between Mediterranean diet and brain volume. She was awarded the Visiting Professor Award to visit Trinity College Dublin in June 2019. She was a lead researcher in a study which identified 42 genetic variants associated with dyslexia and that the genetic risk was similar between sexes, this project was in collaboration with researchers from Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, and 23andMe.
Fabienne Mackay is a French Australian research immunologist and institutional leader within the Australian medical research, education and innovation sectors. She is the Director and CEO of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute since 2020, after being the inaugural Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne during the preceding five years. She is also an Honorary Professor at the Faculties of Medicine of the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne. Her work has attracted public attention for its contribution to the pathophysiological understanding and treatment of lupus and other autoimmune diseases. Mackay has been notably awarded, achieving international reputation for her widely cited research describing B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and other cytokines of the TNF receptor superfamily, and their roles in B cell physiology, autoimmunity and cancer. She is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Grant Robert Sutherland is a retired Australian human geneticist and celebrated cytogeneticist. He was the Director, Department of Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics, Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital for 27 years (1975-2002), then became the Foundation Research Fellow there until 2007. He is an Emeritus Professor in the Departments of Paediatrics and Genetics at the University of Adelaide.
