The National Birth Defects Prevention Study

The National Birth Defects Prevention Study was designed to identify infant s with major birth defects and evaluate genetic and environmental factors a ssociated with the occurrence of birth defects. The ongoing case-control st udy covers an annual birth population of 482,000 and includes cases identif ied from birth defect surveillance registries in eight states. Infants used as controls are randomly selected from birth certificates or birth hospita l records. Mothers of case and control infants are interviewed and parents are asked to collect buccal cells from themselves and their infants for DNA testing. Information gathered from the inter-views and the DNA specimens w ill be used to study independent genetic and environmental factors and gene -environment interactions for a broad range of birth defects. As of December 2000, 7470 cases and 3821 controls had been ascertained in t he eight states. Interviews had been completed with 70% of the eligible cas e and control mothers, buccal cell collection had begun in all of the study sites, and researchers were developing analysis plans for the compiled dat a, This study is the largest and broadest collaborative effort ever conducted among the nation's leading birth defect researchers, The unprecedented statistical power that will result from this study will e nable scientists to study the epidemiology of some rare birth defects for t he first time. The compiled interview data and banked DNA of approximately 35 categories of birth defects will facilitate future research as new hypot heses and improved technologies emerge.