This ongoing project follows 500,000 volunteers who were recruited between 2006 and 2010.
It includes:
🔴 Genetic Data: The entire genomes of all 500,000 participants have been sequenced
🔴 Biological Samples: Over 15 million samples of blood, urine, and saliva were collected.
🔴 Physical Measurements: Height, Weight, Body fat, Waist/Hip Circumference, ECG, blood pressure of all 500,000 participants were collected.
🔴 Medical Records: The Biobank is linked to participants' NHS records, tracking doctor visits and hospital visits
🔴 Lifestyle Information: Data about diet, sleep, mental health is collected through individual questionnaires.
The 500,000 volunteers agreed to have their health tracked for 30 years.
All data is free, open source, and "de-identified" meaning names are removed.
The UK Biobank is used by scientists to study genetic and lifestyle causes of diseases. More than 20,000 researchers from 90 different countries registered to use it.
(Some people are actually worried about that)
Using this data, scientists keep finding interesting things :
https://www.wcrf.org/about-us/news-and-blogs/following-a-vegetarian-diet-could-lower-cancer-risk-by-14/
https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/research-stories/flu-and-covid-19-can-reignite-dormant-breast-cancer/
This is a super interesting project.
Thank you Britain 🇬🇧 🫡
