Thermo Electron Corporation, a leading provider of analytical instrumentation and laboratory information management systems (LIMS), has implemented its Nautilus LIMS at the UK Biobank to track, store, manage and report on the biological data of 500,000 people as part of one of the largest medical research projects ever conducted.
UK Biobank is a long-term national project to build the world's most detailed information resource for medical researchers. It will follow the health of 500,000 volunteers aged 40-69 in the UK for up to 30 years. Over the next 20 to 30 years, UK Biobank will allow fully approved researchers to use these resources to study the progression of illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Data and samples will be used only for ethically and scientifically approved research.
"The Biobank is expected to grow from one clinic to 15 by the end of 2007, with all sites feeding biological samples that will be entered into and tracked by the LIMS," said Hemal Rajani, LIMS manager for UK Biobank.
The UK Biobank participates in a LIMS user group with two other biobank organisations using Nautilus - the Hunt Biobank in Norway and the Singapore Tissue Network. Rajani said the three organizations are doing similar work, using the many of the same tools and are collaborating on methods involving Nautilus.
Though Nautilus offers flexibility in workflows required by R&D organizations, the UK Biobank has configured the LIMS to follow certain and fixed workflows so all samples follow the same protocols for testing and storage. The collected data will be made available to researchers studying the impact of genetics, lifestyle and environment on health.
To appropriately archive the vast amount of data generated by the UK Biobank study, Nautilus is part of an automated system that receives samples, fractions them into appropriate vessels for testing, analysis and storage, and then tracks and stores all data relative to the sample. The LIMS will be used to provide daily updates and management reports.