Generation Scotland

Generation Scotland Find out about our team, mission, history, funding and more. https://genscot.ed.ac.uk/ We will do this in the safest and most secure way possible. We are growing.

Generation Scotland explores mental and physical health to improve the understanding, prevention and treatment of conditions for current and future generations. Our vision
To improve the health and well-being of current and future generations through partnership between researchers and volunteers. Our mission
Create a large study reflecting the lives of people in Scotland, following individuals an

d their families from childhood to old age. We will support partnerships between our volunteers and researchers on pressing issues of health and well-being. We will combine responses to questionnaires and detailed historic NHS records with innovative laboratory science and data analytics. We will support open science combined with public engagement and consultation, sharing our findings to influence health policy and improve lives. Our volunteers
Generation Scotland has been recruiting volunteers since 2006. Over 24,000 people have already joined from around 7,000 families. We are inviting new families and family members aged 12 and older to join. We aim to double the number of Generation Scotland volunteers between now and 2024. Our volunteers have helped support research into COVID-19, cancer, diabetes, depression, dementia and much more.

📢 New research from our team, just published in Nature Aging!Why do we age? And why do some species live so much longer ...
19/06/2026

📢 New research from our team, just published in Nature Aging!

Why do we age? And why do some species live so much longer than others? A key piece of the puzzle may lie in our stem cells.

🧬 All the different ways DNA methylation changes with age can be explained by a single underlying mechanism: stem cell division dynamics.

🕰️ People who age faster epigenetically, such as smokers, show a distinct biological signature suggesting their stem cell compartment is smaller and/or divides more rapidly.

🐭🐬🧑 Similar trends are seen between species too: across 11 mammalian species, longer-lived animals have higher stem cell pool-to-division ratios, indicating stem cell dynamics may be a key evolutionary driver of lifespan.

This work used methylation data from Generation Scotland participants. A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to this incredible resource. 🙏

Read the full paper:
Crofts et al. (2026): https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-026-01125-y

* Please take part in a study on a new gender-inclusive measure for ADHD *Researchers at Cardiff University are recruiti...
05/06/2026

* Please take part in a study on a new gender-inclusive measure for ADHD *

Researchers at Cardiff University are recruiting parents & carers of children aged 9-11 (years 5 & 6) across the UK. Children don't have to have a diagnosis or even suspected ADHD - all parents/carers with children that age are invited.

* What does it involve? *
Parents/carers will be asked to complete a new gender-inclusive scale called BEARS, online or by post.

* What is the BEARS? *
BEARS stands for: Behaviour, Emotion, and Attention Regulation Scale.
BEARS was co-developed with many experts, including parents, carers, healthcare and educational professionals, and young people with lived experiences of ADHD.

* Study webpage: *
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/wolfson-centre-for-young-peoples-mental-health/take-part/child-development-wales

Please share widely - thank you!

📢 New research from our team, just published in BMJ Public Health!Did you know that reading difficulties like dyslexia o...
28/05/2026

📢 New research from our team, just published in BMJ Public Health!

Did you know that reading difficulties like dyslexia often go undiagnosed in adults, yet persist throughout life and run in families? See what we found from the study.

🔬 Are you a researcher interested in literacy, neurodevelopment or genetics? This deeply phenotyped dataset offers a unique opportunity to investigate reading and language abilities alongside DNA, methylation, proteomics and health data.

A huge thank you to all the Generation Scotland participants who gave their time to make this research possible. 🙏

Read the full paper:
Mountford et al. (2026): https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/4/2/e004427

📢 New research from our team, just published in BMC Psychiatry!When treating depression, antidepressants don't work equa...
18/05/2026

📢 New research from our team, just published in BMC Psychiatry!

When treating depression, antidepressants don't work equally for everyone — some people spend years trying multiple medications before finding one that helps. Understanding who experiences this treatment resistance, and why, is key to helping people find effective treatment sooner.

But to study Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD), we first need to agree on how to define it, and it turns out that choice changes everything.

A huge thank you to all the Generation Scotland volunteers whose data makes this research possible. 🙏

🔗 Read the paper:
Iveson et al. (2026): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12888-026-08085-y

🌍 New research reveals how air pollution impacts our health at the molecular level.Our latest preprint on medRxiv explor...
07/05/2026

🌍 New research reveals how air pollution impacts our health at the molecular level.

Our latest preprint on medRxiv explored biological impacts of eight air pollutants in Generation Scotland, and here's what we found:
🌫️ Air pollution harms health, even at low levels — PM2.5 linked to dementia, coarse nitrate to heart attacks, over 18 years of follow-up.
🧬 Pollution leaves a molecular fingerprint — Exposure accelerated biological ageing and altered inflammation-related proteins.
🔬 Multi-pollutant modelling matters — Studying eight pollutants simultaneously uncovered signatures that single-pollutant approaches would have missed.

A huge thank you to all Generation Scotland volunteers — this research wouldn't be possible without you. 💙

🔗 Read the full preprint:
Robertson et al. (2026) https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.04.26347573

⚠️ Note: This is a preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

🧠 New research sheds light on the biological links between childhood maltreatment and depression.Our latest study publis...
07/04/2026

🧠 New research sheds light on the biological links between childhood maltreatment and depression.

Our latest study published in Translational Psychiatry explored how genetic variation in immune pathways interacts with early life trauma to shape depression risk. Here's what we found.

A huge thank you to all Generation Scotland volunteers whose generous contribution made this research possible. Studies like this simply wouldn't exist without you. 💙

🔗 Read the full paper, Herrera-Rivero et al. (2026): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03935-5

📢New research!!Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) on reports from routine brain scans across Scotland, researchers ...
31/03/2026

📢New research!!

Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) on reports from routine brain scans across Scotland, researchers uncovered incidental findings that predict future disease.

A huge thank you to the volunteers of Generation Scotland, whose data made this research possible. Your contribution advances our understanding of brain health and disease prevention. 🙏

Read the full paper, Iveson et al. (2026): https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2026/03/13/jnnp-2025-337689

📢New research!!While we all age at the same chronological rate, we do not all experience biological ageing at the same r...
12/03/2026

📢New research!!

While we all age at the same chronological rate, we do not all experience biological ageing at the same rate. There are wide varieties in individual health outcomes as we age, with some individuals ageing with minimal impacts to their health and others developing chronic diseases. Researchers are exploring whether epigenetic clocks – DNA-based biomarkers of ageing – can predict future disease risk. This study evaluated how well 14 different clocks predicted outcomes over a 10-year period.

This study was a comparison review of 14 epigenetic clocks that found there is promise for second and third-generation clocks to predict disease risk, particularly in relation to respiratory and liver-based conditions. This study provides a strong foundation for the targeted selection of epigenetic clocks for consideration in clinical risk prediction models.

Grateful to all Generation Scotland participants whose generous contributions made this research possible.

Read the full paper, Mavrommatis et al. (2025): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66106-y

📢New research!!New research shows that a DNA change in the CUBN gene is linked to a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficienc...
03/03/2026

📢New research!!

New research shows that a DNA change in the CUBN gene is linked to a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency in people who take metformin for type 2 diabetes. The difference is small in people who do not use metformin, but it becomes much clearer in metformin users. In UK Biobank, low B12 was seen in 12.84% of people with AA, compared with 6.02% of people with GG.

Grateful to all Generation Scotland participants whose generous contributions help make research like this possible. 💜

Read the full paper, Baldwin et al. (2026):
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00125-025-06655-5

📢New research!!New research reveals that DNA methylation signatures of inflammation predict brain ageing better than tra...
11/02/2026

📢New research!!

New research reveals that DNA methylation signatures of inflammation predict brain ageing better than traditional blood tests. DNAm CRP and GDF15 outperformed plasma measures in predicting cognitive decline and dementia risk over 25 years. A promising step toward identifying at-risk individuals earlier.

Grateful to all Generation Scotland participants whose generous contributions made this research possible. 💙

Read the full paper, Drouin et al. 2025: https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.70281

Address

Generation Scotland, University Of Edinburgh, Institute Of Genetics & Cancer, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South
Edinburgh
EH42XU

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+441316518718

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