UK Biobank Launched

In the Cheshire town of Altrincham, a new genetic database, Biobank, has begun collecting blood and DNA from about 3,000 volunteers. These volunteers will also be assessed on physical features, such as blood pressure and weight, as well as provide information on their lifestyle, including smoking, drinking, eating and exercise habits. Eventually, the study will include 500,000 Britons aged 40-69.

Not just anyone can participate, people are identified from central National Health Service registeries and invited to participate in the UK Biobank. They’ll also be:

• Attending a local study assessment centre for about 1 hour to answer some simple questions, to have some standard measurements, and to give small samples of blood (about 2 tablespoons) and urine.
• Agreeing to allow their health to be followed for many years by UK Biobank directly through routine medical and other records.
• Being re-contacted by us to answer some additional questions and/or attend a repeat assessment visit (which would be entirely optional).

Helen Wallace, GeneWatch, thinks Biobank is pointless:

Links between genes and diseases like heart disease or schizophrenia are made all the time. In the end, only one in a hundred of these claims stands up to scrutiny. Biobank’s results will be useless or, worse, misleading.

I disagree. We may not know as much as Ms. Wallace would like to make full use of the data now. But, there’s no doubt in my mind that eventually the samples and data collected will be useful. Science relies on serendipity to progress. There is a very high probability that geneticists and epidemiologists will make important discoveries using Biobank.

The Observer, March 12, 2006

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