UK Biobank releases huge tranche of genetic data

The UK Biobank has released genetic information from half a million people, which researchers can use to carry out more sophisticated gene analyses into the causes of disease.

The biobank said the data would enable researchers to better understand factors that predispose people to disease and explore how genetics, lifestyle, diet and environment each affect people’s health, in a press release published on 28 July.

The data release adds to genotyping data for 150,000 participants that has already been made available through the Biobank, an initiative set up in 2013 and funded mainly by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome.