Volunteer participants aged 40-69 were recruited between 2006 and 2010[1] from across Great Britain and consented to share their health data and to be followed for at least 30 years thereafter with the aim to enable scientific discoveries into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment[3] of disease.

They have over 15 million biological samples stored, which can be requested for use by researchers, and their online database holds over 30 petabytes of data.

This consisted of a series of pilot studies of increasing complexity and sophistication with interludes for assessment of results and additional scientific input.

In-house trials were conducted during 2005, and a fully integrated clinic was run at Altrincham, Greater Manchester throughout Spring 2006 where 3,800 individuals were assessed.

[26] Following the initial pilot stage in the 2005-6 period,[27] the main study began in April 2007 and by the end of that year 50,000 people had taken part.

In May 2023, UKRI announced that UK Biobank was set to receive £127.6m to move to a purpose-built facility at Bruntwood SciTech's Manchester Science Park.

[33] Prospective participants were invited to visit an assessment centre, at which they completed an automated questionnaire and were interviewed about lifestyle, medical history and nutritional habits; basic variables such as weight, height, blood pressure etc.

During the whole duration of the study it was intended that all disease events, drug prescriptions and deaths of the participants are recorded in a database, taking advantage of the centralized UK National Health Service.

[39] The study was initially launched with a visit consisting of the following:[39] Once the visit-based assessment method was proven, the range of investigations was extended to include:[39] Since the completion of recruitment several new types of data have been added: Following the initial pilot stage in the 2005-6 period, the main study began in April 2007 and by the end of that year 50,000 people had taken part.

[58] Researchers are required to publish their results in an open source publication site or in an academic journal and return their findings to the UK Biobank.

[69] Reviews of UK Biobank data have found that pescatarians and vegetarians have a lower risk of colorectal and prostate cancer compared to red meat eaters.

[73][74][75] The Framework describes a series of standards to which UK Biobank will operate during the creation, maintenance and use of the resource and it elaborates on the commitments that are involved to those participating in the project, researchers and the public more broadly.

The independent UK Biobank Ethics and Governance Council provides advice to the project and monitors its conformity with the Framework.

A scientific review panel concluded, the "UK Biobank has the potential, in ways that are not currently available elsewhere, to support a wide range of research".

[55] Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the MRC, predicted it "will provide scientists with extraordinary information"[78] and "grow into a unique resource for future generations.

Some of these studies are less obviously related to UK Biobank's self-stated mission of "Improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses".

[89] In the same article, The Guardian also reported on the US-based startup, Heliospect Genomics that claims to use UK Biobank data to predict traits such as IQ, sex and height, as well as risk of obesity or mental illness, in human embryos for IVF treatment.