What is DNA?
DNA is genetic material that decides things like hair and eye color and the risk of some diseases. Most cells in the body contain DNA. That DNA carries the instructions for your body's development and functions.
A piece of DNA that determines a specific function of a cell is called a gene. Your entire unique genetic material, made up of DNA, is called your genome. We will measure a very small amount of your child’s entire genome to learn how differences in DNA are related to health.
Saliva contains DNA, which contains genes. We will use the saliva samples to look at how genes and life experiences are related to health, feelings, learning, and behavior.
The saliva samples will be used to study DNA. If you agree to participate, you will receive a kit in the mail with instructions and everything you need to collect the samples. The kit will include a prepaid mailer to send the samples to our lab. It’s an easy process and should not take more than 15 minutes. The videos below show how you will collect the saliva sample for yourself (if applicable) and your child.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
No, individual results of genetic testing will not be reported to you or anyone else.
You may have seen commercials for ancestry and genetic DNA tests. We will not report any information from the DNA testing to you or anyone else.
No. This study has received a federal Certificate of Confidentiality from the Department of Health and Human Services. This Certificate helps to protect your privacy. We cannot be forced to turn over your DNA or your child’s DNA, even when requested by police or in the case of a court order.
Your child’s samples and data may be kept indefinitely. However, you will always have the right to ask us to destroy your child’s samples and data.
We would also like to keep your child’s saliva and stool sample for future studies. Because studies about DNA and microbiome are still developing, we don’t yet know all the ways your contribution will be valuable for research.
We will safely store the saliva and stool samples for future research related to this study. NIH supports other studies called “genome-wide association studies”. If we participate in future genome studies, we would remove all names, addresses, and identification numbers, and would “deidentify” it by standards consistent with federal regulations.