Health and Retirement Study adds genetic data to NIH database

The Health and Retirement Study has conducted genotyping on approximately 13,000 HRS respondents who provided DNA samples (from saliva) in each wave starting in 2006. These data are now available for analysis by qualified researchers via the dbGAP - the NIH Genotypes and Phenotypes online database. "The addition of genetic data provides a major new dimension for the study and is expected to result in much deeper insights into how we age," says Richard Hodes, director of the NIA.