Double Vision: Study of U.K. Twins Provides New Insight Into Human Wellbeing

Back in 1992, when Prof. Tim Spector of King’s College London set up a study to investigate the incidence of osteoporosis and other rheumatologic diseases in monozygotic (identical) twins, little did he know how much the project would expand its horizons. From a few hundred identical twins, the cohort has grown to more than 15,000 identical and nonidentical twins across the U.K., aged between 18 and 100, and a host of diseases and conditions are under the microscope (
Figure 1
). Now, TwinsUK has one of the most deeply characterized adult twin cohorts anywhere in the world, providing vast quantities of data for longitudinal studies of health and aging.