UK Biobank will gather, store and protect the world's largest bank of blood and DNA samples, and health information, collected from 500 000 volunteers in the UK aged between 40 and 69. People in this age group are at risk of developing a wide range of fatal and disabling illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental illness and joint diseases. By following this group over many years, UK Biobank will provide researchers with a unique resource for studying the roles of genes, lifestyle and environment in disease.

To test procedures, a three-month pilot study was held from March to May 2006 in the Altrincham district of Manchester. Some 3800 men and women were recruited in the pilot phase. They each spent about 90 minutes at an assessment centre, answering questions about their health and lifestyles, and giving blood and urine samples. All agreed to allow their health to be followed by UK Biobank for many years, through routine medical and other health-related records.

An independent review panel judged proposals for UK Biobank to be excellent, praising its planning and handling of potential ethical problems, as well as its ability to recruit enough volunteers and assess them extensively within budget. As a result, in August 2006, the funders announced that the study will be rolled out nationally.

Over the next four years, UK Biobank will start recruiting 500 000 adults – nearly 1 per cent of the UK population – who will attend one of a network of 35 assessment centres across the UK, each open for about six months.

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

Image: Stored biological samples

External links

• UK Biobank