Welcome to OurDNA

OurDNA will set up:

A searchable public database of genetic information

The public OurDNA database will contain summary genetic information of Australians to help doctors and researchers find the information they need to identify or study health conditions. Doctors and researchers will be able to see trends and patterns in the information but not who the information came from.

A secure bank of genetic and health information for future medical research

The OurDNA databank will safely keep the genetic and health information of people who take part in OurDNA so that it can be studied by health and medical researchers working to benefit Australian communities. Researchers will not be able to see any personal details of the people who have taken part in OurDNA.

A secure bank of blood samples that have been donated for future medical research

OurDNA will collect people’s blood and blood cell samples and keep them safe for researchers to study in the future. The OurDNA sample bank will help to make health and medical research that benefits Australian communities easier in the future.

Taking part in OurDNA is voluntary: you can choose to take part or not to take part.

People who take part in OurDNA must be:

• over 18 years of age;

• Medicare eligible;

• have ancestry from a region currently underrepresented in genetic research, such as:

East African (e.g. Ethiopian, Ghanaian, Kenyan, Mauritian, Somali, and Sudanese)

North African and Middle Eastern (e.g. Assyrian, Chaldean, Egyptian, Iranian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Turkish)

Oceanian (e.g. Fijian, Māori, Papua New Guinean, Samoan, and Tongan)

South-East Asian (e.g. Cambodian, Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, and Vietnamese)

OurDNA is a genetic research project that studies information from blood samples that people donate. It also banks people’s health information, blood, and blood cells to make health and medical research easier in the future. Health and medical research can help to identify illness faster, develop new treatments, and improve health services.

OurDNA studies genetic information, which is a type of health information that contains the instructions for bodies to develop, grow, and work. These are mainly found in sections of DNA called genes. DNA is found in cells in every part of the body, including blood and saliva.

Each person has their own genetic information but some of it is the same as their blood relatives. This includes parents and grandparents, siblings, and children. Tiny differences in genes and DNA can help to explain differences in how people look and how their bodies work.

If you take part in OurDNA, you can choose whether or not you want to receive genetic information back from the research that could tell you something about your health or the health of your family.

Only a small number of people who take part in the research will receive a result like this. If you choose to get this information back, researchers may tell you about a variant or change in your genetic information that could affect your health, or the health of your family in the future. It may also help you or your family members plan for future children. You will only be offered this information if there is an action you can take to improve your health or prevent a health condition.

Some useful words used in OurDNA and their meaning:

• Cells: tiny living parts of our bodies that work together as tissues and organs to keep us alive and maintain body functions. Cells can be frozen or grown for study.

• DNA: can be found in every part of the body, including blood and saliva. DNA contains a person’s genetic instructions, mostly in sections called genes.

• Gene: a section of DNA that contains instructions for a body to develop, grow and work. Differences in genes can help to explain how people look and how their bodies work.

• Genetic information: contains the instructions that are used by bodies to develop, grow and work. Differences or variants in genetic information can affect health. People share some of their genetic information with their blood relatives, including parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, and children.

• Genetic variant: a change in a person’s genetic information. Some genetic variants can affect a person’s health or the way they respond to medicines or treatments.

• Genome: A person’s genome is the complete set of their genetic information, containing all of their genes.

• Genomics: the field of medical science that studies the information contained in genomes.

• Health information: information about a person’s health, which could include test results, doctor’s notes and reports, prescriptions, and information about any symptoms or diagnoses. Health information can include genetic information.

OurDNA is a national research project of the Centre for Population Genomics (CPG). 

The CPG is a not-for-profit research centre that was set up by two of Australia’s leading research institutes: the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne. 

OurDNA has been funded by both research institutes, the State and Federal Governments, and people who donate money to health research.

OurDNA has been funded for five years by a government grant to improve medical research and healthcare in the future for all Australians. The Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute have also given money to continue collecting, storing and studying people’s health and genetic information. It is our intention for the OurDNA database and sample bank to be available for as long as possible for researchers.