Arctic Biobank material collections

Arctic Biobank includes material from the data collections in the Northern Finland Birth Cohorts (NFBC) including two longitudinal and prospective birth cohorts (NFBC1966 and NFBC1986) and from two cohorts on aging populations with individuals born in 1935 (Oulu1935) and 1945 (Oulu1945).

Timepoints for data and sample collections

Biological samples collected at different stages of the Northern Finland Cohorts and related data have been transferred to Arctic Biobank after biobank informing.

Read more details on the data collections from the NFBC web pages:

Northern Finland Birth Cohorts

Number of sample donors

Northern Finland cohort members with biological samples collected latest on 2013 and having a known address were informed on the sample and data transfer to Arctic Biobank in 2020-2022. The numbers* of biobank consents (active) and number of Biobank participants are presented below.

Population Participants in Biobank
NFBC1966 7 507
NFBC1986 6 702
Oulu1935 768
Oulu1945 945

*1/2024 (n = 15 922)

Biological samples

Biological sample types and number of sample donors collected in different stages of data collections are presented below:

Population Age Sample types DNA Blood/Serum/Plasma Urine Hair Saliva GWAS
Oulu1935 55-58 Serum - 0/628/0 - - - 490
Oulu1935 72 Blood, serum, plasma, DNA, white blood cells 538 618/538/537 - - -
Oulu1945 55-58 Blood, serum, plasma, urine - 700/988/985 980 - - 633
Oulu1945 68-70 Blood, serum, plasma, DNA, urine, fecal 702 703/703/701 696 - -
NFBC1966 31 Blood, serum, plasma, DNA, white blood cells, nails 5954 0/5982/5864 - - - 6547
NFBC1966 46 Blood, serum, plasma, DNA, RNA, PaxGene tubes (RNA), white blood cells, urine, fecal, saliva, hair 5798 5799/5809/5799 4555 5420 1625
NFBC1986 15-16 Blood, serum, plasma, DNA 6557 6474/6484/6415 - - - 5771

Data related to biological samples

Basic demographic data age, gender, weight, height, marital status
Laboratory values available (for example NMR metabolomics)
Genome data GWAS available
Medication and diseases self reported
Lifestyle data Health information, sociodemographic characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, physical environment, mental health, familial disease history, individual disease history, individual history of injuries, medication use, perception of health/quality of life, woman's health, reproductive history, sleep, alcohol usage, smoking, diet, exercise, physical activity

See more on the variable categories

Information related to Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC) sample collections

  • For variables, see the NFBC variable catalogue (note the data collections transferred to Arctic Biopbank: NFBC1966 31y and 46y, NFBC1986 16 y).