Viking Genes

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Viking Genes

VIKING Genes is a research project with 4 population studies involving 10,000 volunteers

01/01/2026

The Team at Viking Genes would like to wish all of our volunteers and followers a Happy New Year! Let's make 2026 a great year.

29/12/2025

Something for 2026!
Check out Viking Genes Challenges via the link below and find a New Year challenge that might suit you, and raise funds at the same time!
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https://giving.ed.ac.uk/fundraise-your-way/events-and-challenge

23/12/2025

Merry Christmas to all our volunteers and followers. We are now closed but will be back in 2026!

21/12/2025

Happy day to all our volunteers and followers in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

17/12/2025

Terrific article 😊

A GATHERING of more than 100 descendants and spouses of the Sutherland family of Voe has raised around £1,000 for the Viking Genes project. The family...

16/12/2025

Last week, the Christmas Carol Concert at Walls Public Hall raised a fantastic £420 for Viking Genes Shetland. Thank you so much!
The concert was led by the Lerwick Brass Band. Sandra Laurenson and Peter Malcolmson, who attended on behalf of Viking Genes Shetland, said: "Happy Hansel School bairns were brilliant too!"

15/12/2025

Our latest fundraising story is on the Viking Genes website! 👇
https://viking.ed.ac.uk/support-viking-genes/supporters-stories/viking-genes-family-reunion
A family gathering, called ‘The Sutherland Doo III’, was held on 20 September 2025 at Voe Hall on Shetland. The family agreed that any surplus funds after the event - an incredible £1,015 - would be donated to charity and this year, they decided to support Viking Genes Shetland! We can't thank you enough! 👏
The people in the photo include many direct descendants of the late Magnus Sutherland (1876-1954) and his wife Catherine Johnson (1884-1942) of Voe, Shetland. Photo by Caitlin McKearney.
With Photos by Caitlin With Fundraise Your Way

09/12/2025

Watch our Viking Genes Review of 2025!
We have achieved so much, thanks to your help and support. We couldn't have done it without you! Enjoy the highlights package. 👏

05/12/2025

It's !
So, a great opportunity to celebrate the brilliant volunteers we have across the world! You can see from the map where our volunteers live.
Our guide:
The Yellow pins represent where volunteers live with grandparents from Orkney
The Orange pins represent where volunteers live with grandparents from Shetland
The Red pins represent where volunteers live with grandparents from both Orkney and Shetland
The Blue pins represent where volunteers live with grandparents from the Western Isles/Hebrides
The Red pins represent where volunteers live with a combination of grandparents from Orkney or Shetland and the Western Isles/Hebrides.

Map data ©2025 GeoBasis-DE/BKG (©2009)

04/12/2025

FULLY-FUNDED PHD OPPORTUNITY AT UNIVERISTY OF EDINBURGH - PLEASE SHARE!
Translational Pathway to Implementation of Polygenic Risk Scores for Prostate Cancer
Prof Jim Flett Wilson is excited to announce a fully-funded PhD opportunity, starting in Oct 2026, as part of the Doctoral Training Programme in Precision Medicine, which is a 3.5 year programme with integrated study. He would of course be delighted if a good candidate from the Northern or Western Isles were to apply:
👇
https://usher.ed.ac.uk/precision-medicine-doctoral-training-programme/translational-pathway-to-implementation-of-polygenic
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More information on the programme can be found here: https://usher.ed.ac.uk/precision-medicine/about-the-programme

01/12/2025

Precision Medicine: We found that everyone in the study had at least one known genetic variant that could affect how they respond to certain medications. For some drugs, up to half of the participants had genetic findings that indicate they might require a change in the dose or type of medication.
Learn more about pharmacogenomics below:
👇
https://viking.ed.ac.uk/how-youre-helping-research/characterisation-pharmacogenomic-variation-shetland-orkney

Address

MRC Human Genetics Unit And Usher Institute, The University Of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
EH42XU

Website

https://viking.ed.ac.uk/

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VIKING II

Thanks to recent Medical Research Council (MRC) funding, are looking 4,000 people with 2 immediate grandparents from Orkney and Shetland, in our new study ‘VIKING II’

The research teams behind Orkney Complex Disease Study (ORCADES) and the VIKING Health Study – Shetland (VIKING) are based at the University of Edinburgh, at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine and the Usher Institute.

In April 2018, it was announced that The MRC Human Genetics Unit received a £53 million funding boost from the Medical Research Council (MRC), supporting research for the next 5 years. We’re pleased to confirm that the ORCADES and VIKING teams received part of this funding, so that we may continue developing our understanding of common, complex diseases.

Thanks to this funding we’re inviting more people to volunteer from Orkney and Shetland. We will merge aspects of the ORCADES study with VIKING, and aim to recruit a further 4,000 volunteers with ancestry (two or more grandparents) from Orkney or the Shetland Isles.