Frequently Asked Questions

Will giving a blood sample hurt?
Everyone’s pain tolerance is different, it will hurt no more than having blood collected for any regular pathology test.

What risks are involved?
As with any normal pathology sampling technique (collection method) you may experience a little stiffness or you may bruise slightly.

What is a control volunteer?
A person that is known not to be affected and who has no close family members with a history of the condition being studied. Their results are compared to people affected by a disease.

How do I know that my medical information is safe and not passed on to a third party?
The Genomics Research Centre is governed by a very strict code of ethics which is monitored by Griffith University Ethics Committee. All of our research projects and every part of the project from the consent forms, questionnaires, labeling, storage of information and samples must be approved by and is monitored by the GUEC.We also abide by the Australian National Health and Medical Research guidelines (NHMRC), Good Clinical Research Practice guidelines (GCRP), International Conference of Harmonisiation (ICH), Good Clinical Practice guidelines (GCP) and the Declaration of Helsinki. It is against all these codes of practice to share personal identifying information with other parties. One of the conditions that we are given permission to conduct research at Griffith University by the GUEC is that we de-identify all information and blood samples when they arrive at the Centre.

I don’t have any of the conditions that you are studying. Can I still be of any help?
Yes. With most studies that we do, we also do what is called a comparison study. This is when we compare the results between affected and non-affected people that we call controls.

What is a control?
A control is a person that has volunteered to participate in our research that is known not to be affected by the condition being studied and also no family history of the condition.

Can you tell me what my blood group is?
No. Your sample will only be used in the research we are conducting and not for any other testing that you have not agreed to.

Will I get any results?
No. As we are investigating the genes involved in a particular disease, we rely on the information from many hundreds of people to give a statistically significant result. Therefore we are unable to give individual results. Only once a diagnostic test has been developed and a person is specifically tested for that gene can individual results be determined.

What is DNA?
Deoxyribonucleic acid is the body’s blueprint present in almost all the cells. DNA determines the function and structure of every component in the body. Except for identical twins, it is the slight differences in the combination of this DNA that is inherited from our biological parents that makes us unique. As our DNA is inherited half from our mother and half from our father and it is this combination of dominant or recessive traits that governs our height, hair colour and even our susceptibility to disease.