Frozen future

The world's largest medical experiment will be launched in Manchester next summer with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes, arthritis and other illnesses that cause premature death.

The

will gather, store and protect a bank of anonymous medical data from 500,000 participants, and keep blood and urine samples in fridges between -20°C and -80°C for decades, so scientists around the world can study how genes, lifestyle and environment affect their risk of disease.

The samples will be housed in a fridge the size of a large lorry container, and be separated, stored, retrieved and tracked with specially designed robots.

The engineers, who have spent more than two years designing the repository, say it was challenging to design an automated system that works in sub-zero temperatures. 'We were scared the whole thing would turn into a big ice cube,' said Justin Owen from

(TAP).

Owen is the systems architect responsible for the technical delivery of the Biobank project. 'Unless you can control the rate of moisture going into the box and have something to get rid of it, over a 20- to 25-year period it is just going to be unworkable,' he said.