First Visits for “It’s Getting Hot in...
We’re excited to share that the It’s Getting Hot in Here study is officially up and running, with our first participant visits now underway! Over...
25/06/2025
Advancing the future of research into metabolic...
31st May 2025 -by Kings College London To honour the memory of British broadcaster, author and science journalist, Dr Michael Mosley, a new clinical research...
31/05/2025
Hungry All the Time? Now We Know...
by Aaruthy Suthahar People who experience big dips in blood sugar levels several hours after eating end up feeling hungrier and consuming hundreds more calories...
21/04/2025
London Microbiome Meeting 2025
Wednesday, 29th January | 1:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Governor’s Hall, Ground floor, south wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH...
29/01/2025
TwinsUK Study Shortlisted for Versus Arthritis Research...
13th January 2025 – by TwinsUK We’re excited to announce that a study building on research from TwinsUK has been shortlisted for the Versus Arthritis...
13/01/2025
TwinsUK Expands Data Contribution to the UK...
TwinsUK Expands Data Contribution to the UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration TwinsUK is excited to announce an expansion of our data contribution to the UK Longitudinal...
17/10/2024
My work experience at TwinsUK
My work experience at TwinsUK has been wonderful. I was incredibly nervous to start, especially because some of the tasks planned for me were things...
27/09/2024
TwinsUK part of team awarded £20 million...
TwinsUK will receive part of £20m in funding by Cancer Grand Challenges, a global cancer research initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National...
27/09/2024
My Week At TwinsUK
My past five days with TwinsUK have been amazing, every single staff member I met was so welcoming and helpful, and it has just been...
27/09/2024
My Work Experience With TwinsUK
I initially contacted TwinsUK trying to find year 12 work experience. I had been listening to a podcast by Tim Spector (a health scientist), and...
27/09/2024
My First Week At TwinsUK
As a BSc Biomedical Science student at Imperial College London, I had not been lucky enough to interact directly with many participants of research studies....
27/09/2024
My First Week At TwinsUK
24th July 2024 – by Ulani Arkhurst As a BSc Biomedical Science student at Imperial College London, I had not been lucky enough to interact...
24/07/2024
We spoke to TwinsUK researcher Dr Emily...
17th July 2024 – by TwinsUK What inspired you to write “Genius Gut”? I wanted to share that what you eat can affect how you...
17/07/2024
My Work Experience With TwinsUK
16th July 2024 – by Bronwen Price I initially contacted TwinsUK trying to find year 12 work experience. I had been listening to a podcast...
16/07/2024
My Week At TwinsUK
17th July 2024 – Ruby Richardson My past five days with TwinsUK have been amazing, every single staff member I met was so welcoming and...
03/06/2024
My First Week At TwinsUK
3rd June 2024 – Nawal Mohamouod The introductory week of my internship at TwinsUK comprised of a collection of seminars and meetings that enabled me...
03/06/2024
Celebrating International Women’s Day: Stories from Twins...
25th March 2024 – by Aaruthy Suthahar International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8th is a day to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women...
25/03/2024
TwinsUK part of team awarded £20 million...
7th March 2024 – by TwinsUK and King’s College London TwinsUK will receive part of £20m in funding by Cancer Grand Challenges, a global cancer...
07/03/2024
TwinsUK Twins Undergo First MRI Scan in...
19th January 2024 – By Aaruthy Suthahar TwinsUK and the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London welcomed the first pair...
19/01/2024
My work experience at TwinsUK
12th December 2023 – by Emily Herbert My work experience at TwinsUK has been wonderful. I was incredibly nervous to start, especially because some of...
12/12/2023
Exciting News at TwinsUK: Meet Our New...
28th November 2023 – by Aaruthy Suthahar We are delighted to let you know that whilst Tim Spector continues to be the Director of TwinsUK...
28/11/2023
TwinsUK Featured in ITV and BBC Documentaries...
21st November 2023 – by Aaruthy Suthahar TwinsUK has recently been in the spotlight as our Director, Tim Spector, and TwinsUK members featured in two...
21/11/2023
Introducing the new King’s Centre for Ageing...
26th October 2023 – by King’s College London We are thrilled to announce a further funding award for a new research programme: the King’s Centre...
26/10/2023
TwinsUK successful in bid for multi-million-pound award...
Tuesday 3rd October – by Paz García We are delighted to announce that TwinsUK has received a multi-million-pound funding award to study resilience in health...
03/10/2023
Study Reveals Higher BMI Puts Adolescents at...
Children between the ages of 12 and 16 with a higher body mass index (BMI) are more susceptible to developing symptoms of depression, according to...
05/09/2023
Celebrating Excellence: TwinsUK Shines at the King’s...
by Aaruthy Suthahar We are delighted to share some exciting news about the recent awards ceremony held by the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine...
27/07/2023
You Asked, We Actioned!
by Aaruthy Suthahar It is important to us to foster a relationship built on mutual respect with our twins, and so the team at TwinsUK...
26/07/2023
Three Types of Long-COVID for People Experiencing...
by King’s College London New research shows at least three distinct ‘types’ of long covid for people experiencing symptoms for 12 weeks or more. The...
17/04/2023
Diet High in Protein Linked with Loss...
Researchers from TwinsUK have found that rather than being protective, high protein intake is associated with loss of muscle mass in healthy over-60s. This surprising...
09/03/2023
Can Use of Protein Pump Inhibitors Increase...
Researchers from TwinsUK have found that taking proton pump inhibitors is linked with decreased hip bone density and this effect is partly mediated through plasma...
27/01/2023
What Does Your X Chromosome Say About...
Your X chromosome contains clues as to whether or not you might develop cancer and heart disease, according to latest research from TwinsUK. Chromosomes are...
22/11/2022
Under pressure: The link between belly fat,...
In a world first, a team of researchers led by TwinsUK has found that people with high blood pressure take longer and work harder to...
20/10/2022
Could the Age of Your Brain Predict...
A recent study has found that brain-age could help with early detection of dementia in patients. The team, which included TwinsUK Clinical Director Professor Claire...
30/08/2022
Your B’s and T’s: How They Reflect...
TwinsUK researchers have found that your B cell and T cell responses are linked to COVID-19 infection. The immune system is made up of lots...
30/07/2022
Could there be a link between antibody...
Having three vaccines against COVID-19 offers greater protection and reduces the chance of individuals getting infected, according to research by the National Core Study for...
06/06/2022
Hear here! Hope for future treatments against...
Researchers led by Karolinska Institute, King’s College London and Erasmus University have identified 10 new genes linked with hearing loss and located the part of...
16/05/2022
What are the Most Popular Food &...
by Aaruthy Suthahar New research has found that black tea and semi-skimmed milk are the most consumed items by TwinsUK members. The study, which aimed...
06/04/2022
Could Bacterial Infection Contribute to Lower Back...
Infection of the disc may be a factor in spinal disc degeneration and lower back pain, according to the latest TwinsUK research. Back pain, specifically...
13/02/2022
Your Contribution to COVID-19 Research
By Aaruthy Suthahar In October 2020, the National Core Studies commenced as part of the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Core Studies...
10/02/2022
Do Identical Twins Have Identical Antibody Responses?
In a recent study, TwinsUK researchers found the heritability of anti-viral antibody selection among a cohort of identical twins. The study investigated for the first...
02/02/2022
Have Your Say in TwinsUK Research
We are looking for new members of our TwinsUK Volunteer Advisory Panel (VAP) and eVAP, to replace our outgoing panel. The VAP meet twice a...
27/01/2022
Halloween at TwinsUK
Night falls across the creeping Thames, glass glitters under the clouded sky, a sliver of the moon breaks through, and stirring autumnal wind crosses the...
28/10/2021
Could the DASH Diet Help Reduce High...
In a recent study, TwinsUK researchers found that following the DASH diet was linked with reduced blood pressure and that this may be as a...
27/10/2021
Is the Love of Nature in Your...
Identical twins are consistently more similar to each other in their concern for nature, environmental movement activism, and personal conservation behaviour than non-identical twins, suggesting...
22/10/2021
Whats the Link Between Gut Bacteria and...
by Aaruthy Suthahar Women with high blood pressure have lower diversity in their gut bacteria, according to our latest TwinsUK research. This means that addressing...
13/10/2021
How do Hormones Affect Women’s Experience of...
by Aaruthy Suthahar Post-menopausal women have lower levels of the female sex hormone oestrogen and appear to be at higher risk of developing serious complications...
13/10/2021
People with Mental Health Conditions Hit Harder...
People who had higher pre-pandemic levels of depression or anxiety have been more severely affected by disruption to jobs and healthcare during the pandemic, according...
30/09/2021
Twins Begin the 2021-2022 School Year
by Emily Stevens Nearly 2.4 percent of babies are now born as twins, the highest of any point in history. In the UK this means...
07/09/2021
How Six Researchers Visited 500 Twins in...
by Emily Stevens During the first UK lockdown in March 2020, two nurses and four research practitioners planned their days with military precision. They were...
24/08/2021
TwinsUK has Opened a Brand New Clinic...
by Emily Stevens TwinsUK unveiled an online video tour on the 12th August, 2021. Outside of sleek wooden, windowed doors bearing a ‘Welcome To Twin...
12/08/2021
Could Your Gut Bacteria Help You Lose...
by Paz Garcia A key molecule produced by gut bacteria is linked to less belly fat, according to the latest TwinsUK research. The team found...
21/07/2021
Can Supplements Offer Protection Against Covid-19?
by Paz Garcia Taking multivitamins, omega-3, probiotics or vitamin D supplements may lessen the risk of testing positive for COVID-19 for women, according to recent...
23/04/2021
Can the Immune System Recover from the...
by Paz Garcia The immune system of quitters is almost completely restored to a healthy state, according to the latest research from TwinsUK in collaboration...
15/03/2021
50 New Genes for Eye Colour Discovered
The genetics of human eye colour is much more complex than previously thought, according to a new study published today. An international team of researchers...
11/03/2021
TwinsUK to Take Part in Key Long...
TwinsUK will be joining forces with other cohort studies across the UK to study Long COVID through a key project announced last week. Approximately one...
22/02/2021
Appetite Linked to Healthier Gut Bacteria and...
by Paz Garcia Over-60s with a good appetite have more diverse and different communities of microbes in their gut than those with a poor appetite,...
15/02/2021
A good diet can keep us healthy...
by Paz Garcia Your food intake patterns are partly under genetic control, according to the latest research from TwinsUK. First author Olatz Mompeó-Masachs explained: “We...
18/01/2021
30 Key Gut Microbes for your Health...
The latest PREDICT results have uncovered 15 gut microbes associated with lower risks and 15 with greater risks for common conditions such as type 2...
11/01/2021
Addicted to the Sun? It’s in Your...
by Paz Garcia Sun-seeking behaviour is linked to genes involved in addiction, behavioural and personality traits and brain function, according to a study of more...
10/09/2020
Could Fat Tissue Hold the Key as...
Lower levels of a key molecule in fat tissue are linked with health conditions that are risk factors for severe COVID-19, according to new research...
17/08/2020
Researchers Identify Three Nutrients with Major Effects...
by Paz Garcia Going to work on an egg may be a good idea after all, as new research from TwinsUK has found that key...
10/08/2020
There Are Microbes in Your Urine –...
by Paz Garcia You have microbes in your urine and that’s completely normal, according to the latest TwinsUK research. Contrary to popular belief, urine is...
23/07/2020
What Does Tap Water Mean for Our...
by Dr Ruth Bowyer The global improvement to tap water quality worldwide has been a public health success, with access to clean water for drinking,...
17/07/2020
Eat Yourself Slim? Molecules Found in Plants...
by Paz Garcia Eating polyphenols improves your gut health and could lead to a lower risk of obesity, according to the latest research from TwinsUK. ...
06/07/2020
Can Diverse Gut Bacteria Help Protect Against...
by Paz Garcia Gut bacteria could be key players when it comes to reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes, according to new research from...
24/06/2020
Landmark Nutritional Study PREDICT Shows Dietary Inflammation...
Researchers led by the Department of Twin Research announced today the first published results from PREDICT, the largest ongoing nutritional study of its kind. The team...
11/06/2020
Use Loss of Taste and Smell as...
King’s College London researchers have called for the immediate use of additional COVID-19 symptoms to detect new cases, reduce infections and save lives. In a...
05/06/2020
COVID-19: Helping Those at Risk, Together
Today, the COVID Symptom Tracker app, The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the UK’s largest health based charities are joining forces in order to...
24/04/2020
Latest Data from COVID Symptom Tracker App...
The latest analysis of data from the COVID Symptom Tracker app, used by over 2 million people, shows the rate of new symptoms being reported...
08/04/2020
King’s College London Pioneers Symptom Reporting App...
King’s College London is launching a COVID-19 symptom tracking app in the UK, allowing anyone to take 1 minute to self-report daily. Around 5,000 twins...
24/03/2020
This International Women’s Day, Meet Inspiring Women...
An equal world is an enabled world – that’s this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, celebrated on the 8th March. Here at the Department...
08/03/2020
The Marvels of Female DNA
by Colette Christiansen For all the cat lovers out there, have you ever wondered why there are female calico cats with beautiful tortoiseshell coats, but...
08/03/2020
Professor Frances Williams’ research celebrated by HRH...
by Paz Garcia Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall hosted a reception at Clarence House this week to celebrate the women leading the way...
20/02/2020
What’s in a Colon? New Project ExHiBITT...
by Paz Garcia Even healthy people have abnormalities in their colon, according to the first results of new study ExHiBITT published today. Researchers found that...
13/02/2020
Professor Tim Spector Wins Award for Gut...
by Paz Garcia Professor Tim Spector has been awarded the 2019 DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences Microbiome Science Award, in recognition for his leadership and pioneering...
13/12/2019
Chromosome X Marks the Spot
by Paz Garcia The X chromosome in women shows up differently in different parts of the body, according to new research published today in Nature...
25/11/2019
Gut Bacteria Need Each Other – And...
by Paz Garcia Teamwork is key for the trillions of bacteria that live in our gut and this has a big impact on our metabolism,...
03/10/2019
Hope for Hearing Loss
by Paz Garcia A new study of over 250,000 volunteers has identified 44 new genes linked to age-related hearing loss. A third of people are...
26/09/2019
27 Years of Seeing Double
by Paz Garcia Every four years since 2000, identical twins Tracey and Julia make a trip to St Thomas’ Hospital in London. But they don’t...
17/09/2019
Could a Glass of Red Wine Improve...
by Paz Garcia Drinking red wine is linked with an increase in gut bacteria diversity, according to the latest research from TwinsUK. White wine had...
28/08/2019
Moles & Melanoma – is the Sun...
by Paz Garcia Genes have a greater influence than previously thought not only on the number of moles you have but also where they are...
14/08/2019
A Week with TwinsUK
Sixth form students Lia and Amir spent a week with TwinsUK to find out what it’s like to work in research. In this blog post,...
12/07/2019
Type 2 diabetes study puts the kidney,...
by Paz Garcia A new study has identified over 60 differences in molecules in 18 organs of type 2 diabetic mice. The research found that...
10/06/2019
When it comes to food, one size...
What foods are best for us? People, scientists and doctors alike have been asking this question for centuries. Today, we moved one step closer to...
10/06/2019
Do Different Types of Cells in Fat...
by Paz Garcia Fat is made up of a variety of different types of cells, including ones that store fat and others that form the...
29/05/2019
Why do more women develop lupus than...
by Paz Garcia King’s College London researchers have identified a new gene which may explain why so many more women develop lupus than men. Systemic...
15/05/2019
TwinsUK Researcher featured in Science Fiction Book
by Paz Garcia How could a future healthcare system based on personalised medicine affect different people? This is the question posed by Stephen Oram in...
12/04/2019
How Is Bacteria Linked to the Development...
by Paz Garcia The way the immune system interacts with oral and gut bacteria may lead to the development of rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers...
06/03/2019
Life after Death? Measuring Metabolism Beyond the...
Researchers have provided early evidence for a new method that could help forensic scientists determine time of death more accurately in criminal investigations. The team...
05/03/2019
Body or Brain Behind Backpain?
by Paz Garcia Back pain may be caused through the body or through the brain, according to the results of a new genetics study. The...
22/02/2019
Researchers identify key genes involved in chronic...
28th September 2018 A team of researchers from around the world, led by TwinsUK’s Professor Frances Williams, has discovered three new genes linked to the...
30/09/2018
New genes implicated in whether skin will...
9th May 2018 Researchers at TwinsUK have identified ten new genetic regions involved in whether a person is likely to tan or burn. These new...
11/05/2018
Gut microbe diversity linked to lower arterial...
10th May 2018 New research from TwinsUK and the University of Nottingham has identified a link between gut microbe diversity and arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness,...
11/05/2018
More than 100 genes determine hair colour
16th April 2018 Dr Pirro Hysi and a group of researchers from Kings’s College London and Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam have discovered 124...
18/04/2018
Ideas that change healthcare: Our future growing...
11th October 2017 – by Dr Claire Steves Our healthcare system faces myriad challenges in the next fifty years. We’ve been aware of our growing...
14/10/2017
Dietary omega-3 improves the diversity of gut...
13th October 2017 New research from TwinsUK, published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports last week suggests that including more dietary omega-3 fatty acids improves...
13/10/2017
World Alzheimer’s Day 2017: Q&A with Dr...
21st September 2017 September 21st marks World Alzheimer’s Day. We caught up with DTR researcher Dr Claire Steves to find out about early stage Alzheimer’s...
24/09/2017
Gut bacteria play a role in long-term...
16th March 2017 The Department of Twin Research has just published exciting results in the International Journal of Obesity based on the study of over...
18/03/2017
Genetics plays a significant role in immunity
23rd January 2017 Nearly three quarters of immune traits are influenced by genes, new research from the Department of Twin Research, King’s College London reveals. ...
25/01/2017
KCL Big Data Day
1st November 2016 The Department of Twin Research was pleased to have been invited to showcase our work at KCL’s ‘Big Data Day’, bringing together...
04/11/2016
Acne sufferers’ cells may be protected against...
29th September 2016 Scientists at King’s College London have found that people who have previously suffered from acne are likely to have longer telomeres (the...
30/09/2016
Do our genes tell us how to...
13th April 2015 We recently performed a poll of voting preferences among our twins aiming to explore how much nature and nurture influence our party...
13/04/2015
DTR on show at the Evening Standard...
24th October 2014 – by Dr Juliette Harris The Department of Twin Research (DTR), King’s College London were delighted to have been asked to take...
24/10/2014
TwinsUK welcomes back Hugo and Ross after...
12th June 2014 Their trek was inspired by the work done by Spinal Research and the polar expeditions of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Ross used the...
12/06/2014
Boston Hall of Human Life
1st June 2014 Tim Spector gives a lecture on how we can change our genes at the official launch of the Museum of Science, Boston...
01/06/2014
DTR “Twin Experience” Event at the Science...
22nd May 2014 Check out this video posted on our YouTube Channel of the “Twin Experience” Event held at the Science Museum!
22/05/2014
What twins think about the Carb-digesting Gene
31st March 2014 “Carb- digesting obesity gene discovered!” screamed a recent media headline. It was in fact referring to a major breakthrough into the cause...
31/03/2014
Polar Trek – Identical Twins
17th March 2014 In May 2014, identical twins, Hugo and Ross Turner went trekking across the Greenland polar ice cap to raise money for Spinal...
17/03/2014
International Congress on Twin Studies 2014
2nd March 2014 The 15th Congress of the International Society for Twin Studies (ISTS) will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from Sunday 16 November till...
02/03/2014
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
11th December 2013 Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, Tim Spector combines his scientific knowledge and research to answer this question, and many more, in his new...
11/12/2013
Salon London Transmission Prize 2013
11th December 2013 Professor Spector has been nominated to the Salon London Transmission Prize 2013. This prize aims to celebrate those personalities from the world...
11/12/2013
Barcelona Triathlon 2013
6th October 2013 Congratulations to Professor Tim Spector for completing the Barcelona Triathlon – a great achievement, and for fundraising for the Chronic Disease Research...
18/10/2013
Science Weekly: The Science of Epigenetics
18th September 2013 As well as discussing the badger cull in the UK and geo-engineering, this show reports from the British Science Festival in Newcastle...
18/09/2013
The Debate (Institute of Art and Ideas)
4th September 2013 Conflict rages between those who believe that gender is socially constructed and those who argue that it is biologically determined. But now...
04/09/2013
TwinsUK on BBC Horizon
16th July 2013 The Horizon programme on BBC TWO ran a feature called “The Truth About Personality” on the 10th July 2013. This programme in...
16/07/2013
TwinsUK part of the NIHR BioResource
10th July 2013 TwinsUK has been offered a great opportunity to be integrated into the BioResource. This is a government initiative funded by the National...
10/07/2013
21st Anniversary Video
5th July 2013 Twin brothers Scott and Dan Shillum, who run Visual Media, attended our TwinsUK twin party to celebrate our 21st anniversary. We hope...
05/07/2013
TwinsUK on the BBC
17th June 2013 The One Show on the BBC ran a feature on the Department of Twin Research, broadcast at 7:00pm on BBC 1. They featured...
17/06/2013
Twin research comes of age
7th June 2013 Tim Spector, Director of TwinsUK and some of our twins took part in a photo call today to celebrate the 21 year...
07/06/2013
Identical Twins and DNA
20th February 2013 With the recent case of the French identical twins who have been implicated in serial rape, Quentin Cooper asks forensic geneticist Gill...
20/02/2013
CBC radio – Quirks and Quarks
2nd February 2013 Identical twins are incredibly similar – which makes sense, since they have precisely the same genes. But a practiced eye can often...
02/02/2013
Baronness Boothroyd, Patron of TwinsUK, visits the...
24th October 2012 We were delighted to welcome the patron of TwinsUK, Baroness Betty Boothroyd, on a visit to the Department of Twin Research. Baroness...
27/10/2012