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The UK Biobank has just scanned its 100,000th volunteer, reaching a major milestone in medical research. This project aims to understand how diseases like dementia, heart disease, and cancer develop by studying detailed images of hearts, brains, blood vessels, and bones. Volunteers, like Steve, spend about five hours going through MRIs, X-rays, ultrasounds, and giving blood and other samples.
Started in 2003, the UK Biobank has recruited half a million people aged 40 to 69 across Britain to follow their health as they age. This massive effort helps scientists spot early disease signs and link them to lifestyle and genetic factors. The data is anonymised and used by researchers in over 60 countries to create new ways to detect and treat diseases early. AI tools trained on this data can now analyse scans in seconds, which used to take hours.
Findings have already improved dementia diagnosis and revealed hidden liver fat levels in many people. Led by UK scientists, the project is the biggest of its kind in the world and continues to grow. It is fully open to researchers but keeps volunteer data secure. This work has been published in many studies and promises to improve health for future generations.
