Quadrillions: Sequencing the UK Biobank

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2019

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Half a million genomes. That's how many the UK Biobank has, stored as blood samples in freezers up in Manchester. And in September 2019 they announced a project to sequence every single one of them. It's the obvious next step for the UK Biobank, the research study that began in 2006 and now consists of an enormous biological database: the personal and medical information of its 500,000 volunteers. That data is available to any researcher who applies to use it. But how is this, the biggest whole-genome sequencing project ever, going to work? Who's coughing up the hundreds of millions of pounds... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	When it comes to genetics, sometimes it seems like data is king, especially when you're talking someone like Mark.
0:06.7	I'm Mark Effingham. I'm the chief operating officer for UK Biobank.
0:11.5	The UK Biobank, if you haven't heard of it, is this enormous scientific
0:15.9	project that's sort of part research study, part charity, part big Excel spreadsheet.
0:21.7	Around a decade ago they managed to get half a million
0:24.0	volunteers between the ages of 40 and 69 to come in, give a bit of blood and urine and
0:29.2	answer just a load of questions about themselves. The idea is that any scientist can cross-reference
0:35.9	and study that data however they want. And now the Biobank is adding a pretty significant
0:41.0	column to that spreadsheet, whole genome sequencing.
0:44.0	I guess this is starting to understand the human genome. That genome effectively
0:50.2	contains 3 billion letters, 1 billion letters.
0:53.0	What we're trying to do is look at that kind of genetic code
0:57.0	across half a million people.
0:59.0	Hang on a moment, 3 billion letters, half a million people.
1:02.0	I'm going to need a calculator.
1:06.7	Okay that's a 1 and a 5 and then 14 zeros.
1:12.2	One and a half quadrillion little bits of DNA.
1:16.4	I'm no expert, but I think that's quite a lot.
1:24.0	After talking to Mark, I had a few questions, so I went to find some answers.
1:29.0	It really is exciting.
1:31.0	I think there will be moments of frustration, It always is. You can have a complete world map. It just takes so long, ma'am.
1:38.0	Today on the show, we're talking in the quadrillians. I'm Phil Sansom and this is Naked Genetics.
	...

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