The UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study with deep genetic, physical and health data collected on ~500,000 individuals across the United Kingdom from 2006-2010. This unprecedented open access database has enabled an order of magnitude larger studies on genetic and epidemiological associations for an extensive range of health related traits. The UK Biobank has generously made their datasets, and research results resulting from these, accessible to researchers as an open access resource to benefit public health.

This collection accompanies the publication of the first main papers from UK Biobank in Nature and associated commentaries. We also highlight a selection of research publications from Nature journals that showcase how these UK Biobank datasets have already been widely used in a broad range of studies in order to advance the understanding of the genetic basis of disease, genetic epidemiology and public health.

- Orli G. Bahcall, Senior Editor, Nature

LISTEN: Professor Jonathan Marchini discusses the UK Biobank genetics and brain imaging publications in Nature. Podcast: UK Biobank opens a new era of health research.