The Cuban Twin Registry: Initial Findings and Perspectives

The Cuban Twin Registry is a nation-wide, prospective, population-based twin registry comprising all zygosity types and ages. It was initiated in 2004 to study genetic and environmental contributions to complex diseases with high morbidity and mortality in the Cuban population. The database contains extensive information from 55,400 twin pairs enrolled in the period 2004-2006. Additionally, 2,600 new multiple births have been included from 2007 to date. In the past 4 years, more than 130 studies have been carried out using the registry with a classical genetic epidemiological approach in which concordance rates for monozygotic and dizygotic twins and heritability of various disease traits were estimated. This article summarizes the history, registry's methodology, recent research findings, and future directions of work.