By NATURE.COM - NATURE.COM
Added: Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:56:05 UTC

original link

Published online 02 March 2011

Birth-cohort studies offer invaluable data on the links between childhood development and later life, but today's efforts could learn something from a pioneering project that turns 65 this week.

Now and then, Britain creates something it can really be proud of. The Beatles, fish and chips, cream teas and pubs tend to rank high in polls, as can the Royal Family, particularly with wedding bells in the air. But ask epidemiologists, and they will probably praise a lesser-known British achievement: birth-cohort studies, the observation of groups of people from birth onwards.

This week, members of the oldest British birth cohort, all born in one week in March 1946, will celebrate their 65th birthdays (see page 20). They are part of the longest-running human experiment of its type, an endeavour that — along with later generations, including cohorts born in 1958, 1970 and at the turn of the millennium — is the envy of researchers around the world. The cohorts offer important lessons for scientists who want to launch similar efforts today, as well as for politicians who question the merits of funding such work. The 1946 cohort shows, in stunning detail, how long-term studies can pay off. It has provided a treasure-trove of data linking early socioeconomic status, health and development to later events, such as disease, educational attainment and well-being. And it is already starting to show how genetics and a lifetime of experiences influence the ageing process. Sometimes, the only way to understand human life is to study it. This week, the United Kingdom announced that it will spend some £33.5 million (US$54.5 million) over five years on cohort research, including a new study of about 90,000 children.

continue reading...

TAGGED: BIOLOGY, GENETICS, SOCIETY