Genome research in the Faroe Islands

Some hereditary conditions are more common in the Faroe Islands than elsewhere. This is due to the country’s remote location and the fact that most Faroese people are the descendants of relatively few original settlers. Gene testing has confirmed that the Faroese population can be considered a genetically isolated population, which is very interesting in the context of genetics research.

All Faroese people are registered in the so-called Genealogy Registry, which is a family tree of the Faroese people dating all the way back to the 17^th century.  We also have a special system that records health information, a joint digital health record, (THS as abbreviated in Faroese), and this means that we have cohesive public health services. These robust records are useful tools for genetics research of the Faroese population. 

All these factors make the Faroe Islands uniquely well suited to genetics research. The FarGen project enables high-level research opportunities in the Faroe Islands, which is of great interest both locally and internationally.