UK Biobank – the multi-million pound medical project aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases – announced today that it has received the go-ahead to roll out its programme nationwide.

Following a three-month piloting phase in the Manchester area, the final phase of the project received unanimous backing from a team of international scientific and medical experts, and from the project's funders.

The success of the 3800-participant piloting phase means that, around the end of this year, letters will start going out to men and women aged 40-69, who will be invited to attend one of a network of assessment centres to be set up in locations all around the UK. The aim is to recruit half a million people, nearly 1 per cent of the British population, over the next four years.

UK Biobank will gather, store and protect a vast bank of medical data and material that will allow researchers to study in depth, in decades to come, how the complex interplay of genes, lifestyle and environment affects our risk of disease. It is the first time that such a project has been attempted in such fine detail on such a vast scale, and it is hoped to make a real difference to the health of future generations.

The £61 million project is being funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Wellcome Trust, the Department of Health, the Scottish Executive and the North West Regional Development Agency.

See also

• Update: UK Biobank underway (News: 15 March 2006)

External links

• UK Biobank website
• UK Biobank Ethics and Governance Council website