LONDON, April 29: The world’s biggest genetic database, built on DNA samples from 500,000 Britons, was given the go-ahead on Monday with a pledge of 45 million pounds (65.35m dollars) in initial funding from the project’s backers.

The controversial “biobank” scheme will give scientists a unique opportunity to examine genetic and lifestyle factors that underpin many common diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and Alzheimer’s.

Funding is being provided by the British government and the Wellcome Trust, the world’s largest medical research charity, which first suggested the scheme three years ago.

Progress on the project has been slow since then, as scientists have tackled ethical concerns about collecting and collating data, amid criticism from protest groups who fear the commercialization of genetic information.

Central to the debate are worries over patient confidentiality and what access pharmaceutical companies should have to the database.

DNA samples will be taken from volunteers of both sexes, aged 45 to 69, at a small number of regional centres and the anonymous information will be held in public ownership.

No one organization or commercial company will have exclusive access to the data, although pharmaceutical companies will be able to use the results of the study to help design new drugs or diagnostic tests.—Reuters