The clinical geneticist will be responsiblefor the establishment of a Scotland-wide DMD register which will amongst other things,provide a better understanding of the determinants and occurrence of disease.The Scottish MolecularGenetics Consortium (SMGC) offers molecular genetic tests to detect a range of singlegene disorders, including DMD, in symptomatic patients, for pre-symptomatic (i.e.people who may have inherited the defect but not yet developed signs), potentialcarriers of the gene who would be at risk of having affected children, and for prenataldiagnosis for families who request this service.Early orthopaedicintervention is crucial in improving survival and quality of life, and the paediatricscoliosis service in Scotland has been designated as a national servicesince April 2005.