Viking Genes

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

Congratulations to Elaine of the Viking Genes Shetland fundraising committee and her brilliant crew who won their catego...
25/09/2025

Congratulations to Elaine of the Viking Genes Shetland fundraising committee and her brilliant crew who won their category at the Great River Race 2025 on the Thames!
Elaine is pictured second-right. The other Shetland crew from Burra also retained the title in their category - from a total fleet of 266! Those strong Viking genes are still doing their stuff!🛶👏

The beauty of the Scottish Isles is something to behold and is clear to see in this stunning photo taken by Jim’s mother...
22/09/2025

The beauty of the Scottish Isles is something to behold and is clear to see in this stunning photo taken by Jim’s mother of Sandwick in Orkney.
What better way to start the week. Enjoy!

Viking Genes is playing its part in the through research and its groundbreaking return of results programme. Read our ...
12/09/2025

Viking Genes is playing its part in the through research and its groundbreaking return of results programme. Read our powerful volunteer stories that show that our research can make a difference to the lives of our volunteers.
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https://viking.ed.ac.uk/about-us/volunteer-stories

As the Orkney International Science Festival 2025 reaches its final few days, we look back on Prof Flett Wilson's Roy Dr...
08/09/2025

As the Orkney International Science Festival 2025 reaches its final few days, we look back on Prof Flett Wilson's Roy Drever Memorial Lecture in 2023 that brings genetics together with family history to trace the story of Orcadian families such as the Fletts, Drevers, Sinclairs, Rendalls, Linklaters , etc.

Watch it here 👇


[Original version, as livestreamed]Roy Drever Memorial LectureThe Fletts have long been to the fore in almost every aspect of Orkney life from Orkneyinga Sag...

Wonderful photo from last weekend’s Skeld Hall Summer Show Sunday teas. Viking Genes Shetland chair - Sandra Laurenson -...
04/09/2025

Wonderful photo from last weekend’s Skeld Hall Summer Show Sunday teas. Viking Genes Shetland chair - Sandra Laurenson - received a cheque presentation for Da Wastside (S)miles event held in July which raised a magnificent £3,000 for Viking Genes Shetland. We can’t thank you enough! 👏🏻
Skeld Public Hall

A CHEQUE for £3,000 was presented to Viking Genes last weekend following Da Westside Smiles event in July. The Skeld Hall committee hosted their summer show...

This time last year, Jim was about to set off to to give another memorable talk at the Orkney International Science Fe...
02/09/2025

This time last year, Jim was about to set off to to give another memorable talk at the Orkney International Science Festival. He won't be giving a talk this year, but you can catch-up on last year's talk on YouTube.

DNA is becoming increasingly important in healthcare. Prof. Jim Flett Wilson of Edinburgh University returned home during the 2024 Orkney International Scien...

Have you caught up on all the press and media for the Shetland Community Screening Project? If not, it can all be found ...
29/08/2025

Have you caught up on all the press and media for the Shetland Community Screening Project? If not, it can all be found on this page, along with YouTube links to recordings of the launch itself.
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As featured on ITV News and The Scotsman newspaper. The groundbreaking genetic screening programme for Shetland – and a £1 million fundraising campaign to cover its costs.

A week ago, Sandra Laurenson, chair of Viking Genes Shetland, spoke at the annual public meeting of NHS Shetland in Lerw...
26/08/2025

A week ago, Sandra Laurenson, chair of Viking Genes Shetland, spoke at the annual public meeting of NHS Shetland in Lerwick. We are absolutely delighted by the responses as reported in the Shetland Times.

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

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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.