UK Biobank Releases Whole Genome Sequences of 500,000 Volunteers

The data, resulting from over 350,000 hours of sequencing, could revolutionize understanding of disease development and drug discovery.

UK Biobank has released the whole genome sequences of 500,000 British volunteers, providing researchers with a detailed picture of human health and disease development.
The data could enable researchers to look at personalized risk of common disease, better understand genetic diseases, and develop new and better drugs.
The project was funded by Wellcome, UKRI, and four biopharmaceutical companies: Amgen, AstraZeneca, GSK, and Johnson & Johnson.
The data release is the result of more than 350,000 cumulative hours of sequencing and has been building over 20 years.
Researchers have to pay to use Biobank data, but some 30,000 researchers from 90 countries have access to it.