Wrinkles

... Telegraph Make us your homepage Search Our site Web Search Our site Web Wednesday 15 March 2006 Home News home Breaking news Business news Crossword Society Factfiles Law reports Matt cartoon Obituaries Opinion Picture galleries Quiz Text alerts Weather Weblogs Week at a glance Your view SPECIAL REPORTSMarriott HotelsVodafone PassportHitachi TechnologyEnergy Saving TrustClimate change: BP About us Contact us First volunteers sought for UK Biobank projectBy Roger Highfield, Science Editor(Filed: 15/03/2006) The world's largest medical experiment was launched yesterday in Altrincham, Cheshire, with the first 3,000 of a target half a million people invited to take part.

UK Biobank is a "visionary project" aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, joint disease and many other serious illnesses for generations to come, say the Government and the Wellcome Trust charity.

One researcher likened it to an "epidemiological microscope" that will reveal why some people will die before they get old.

But the project has attracted controversy over its long gestation.

One of its initial critics, Prof Sir Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester, inventor of DNA fingerprinting, said yesterday that his misgivings had now been "largely allayed" by the organisers.

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