Every baby born in Denmark, within the first few days of life, receives a unique, 10-digit identification number. The babyʼs name and number become a part of the Danish Medical Birth Registry, a comprehensive electronic record of the birth details ― from birth weight and length to parents' smoking habits ― established in 1968."[The identification number] is nearly tattooed on your forehead, you cannot get rid of it," says Poul Thorsen, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Aarhus. "It's fixed to you and anything you do for the rest of your life."As babies grow older, more than 200 linked electronic registries keep track of their every encounter with the nationalized medical establishment, recording every condition diagnosed and every drug prescribed. In recent years, these massive data collections have played a pivotal role in epidemiological medical research, particularly in identifying risk factors for complex psychiatric diseases such as autism and schizophrenia.Read more at...SFARI, February 2009.