Volunteers are being sought in the Banff and Buchan area to help with a major study which ultimately aims to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Generation Scotland is a nationwide study that aims to work out how our genes affect our chance of getting common illnesses, and the way we respond to different treatments.
It was launched by the Scottish University Medical Schools at the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow together with other Scottish Biomedical Research Institutes and the NHS in Scotland.
Now a new phase of Generation Scotland – which is called 21CGH - is recruiting in Banff and Peterhead.
21CGH is one of Generation Scotland's medical genetic research projects. It's designed to give scientists valuable information about the genetic differences between people in different parts of Scotland. This will make it easier to understand why people get certain illnesses. It will also help uncover the genetic history of the British Isles.
21CGH aims to collect clinical information and blood samples from 2,500 healthy people across Scotland.
Currently volunteers are being invited who are who are able to attend a clinic at Deveron Medical Practice in Banff or Peterhead Medical Practice in Peterhead. Here they will be asked to fill in a questionnaire and also undergo some basic body measurements. Volunteers with strong family connections to Aberdeenshire are particularly sought
A small blood sample will be taken which will allow researchers to analyse the genes and proteins in each volunteer's cells. It is hoped volunteers will also give permission to link the genetic information gathered to their NHS health records.
Volunteers will be told the results of their blood pressure, weight and height measurements. They can also ask for their results to be passed to their GPs.
However researchers stress that any information collected from DNA will not be passed on to employers or insurance companies and will remain strictly confidential.
Professor Blair Smith, Professor of Primary Care Medicine at the University of Aberdeen, is one of the medical scientists leading this research. Formerly a GP in Banff and now a doctor at Peterhead Medical Practice, he said: "This work will help us to understand the causes of some of the most important diseases of our time.
"These include heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and mental illnesses. Eventually, the findings should help us find new treatments. This is an opportunity for scientists, doctors and local people to come together and advance medical science."
Fifty-three-year-old Project Manager Derek Buchan, who lives in Peterhead and works in Fraserburgh, is among those who have already volunteered and given samples for the study.
He said: "When I heard about the study I was only too happy to get involved. If any future generations can benefit from samples and measurements that have been provided from people like myself then I will be delighted."
For further information, please call 01779 474841 (Peterhead) or 01261
812 027 (Banff), or look online at www.generationscotland.org