The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7196 p597-604
4 May 2002

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

News summary

Gene study seeks 500,000 volunteers

Funding of £45m has been announced for a study into the role of genes and the environment in health and disease.

The UK Biobank study aims to recruit 500,000 volunteers, aged 45–69 years, who will donate DNA samples for analysis. Along with the DNA samples, the volunteers' medical records and background information will be used to study the influence of genes and the environment in determining health. The information and samples collected will be held in public ownership for public benefit and there will not be exclusive access to it by any one organisation or commercial company. Researchers from different organisations will have to apply for access to the data.

The Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council have each committed an initial £20m to the project with an additional £5m coming from the Department of Health. The funding bodies say that information from the study will ultimately lead to improved diagnosis, treatment and preventive strategies for many diseases.

Professor Sir John Pattison, director of research and development at the Department of Health, said: "This initiative will create a crucial national resource for clinical researchers that will help them to better understand susceptibility to the common diseases of adult life. In turn, it will help us to know how to adopt healthier lifestyles and so reduce the burden of ill-health." Health Minister Lord Hunt added: "The United Kingdom is leading the world with this exciting project. The potential for this project to result in improvements to the health of the UK population is enormous."

The funding partners say that informed consent from all volunteer participants will be a key feature of the study and ongoing information on research projects that use the resource will be provided. Continuous consultation with patients and health care professionals will take place. The latest consultation report is published on the Wellcome Trust and MRC web sites.