Many important genetic and non-genetic causes of major diseases still await discovery.

Several big blood-based prospective studies have been undertaken this century, including the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) and UK Biobank, both based in Oxford.

Major findings are now emerging in CKB, some expected and some intriguingly unexpected but novel, including assessment of any causal protective effects of moderate alcohol drinking on stroke and heart disease using the East Asian specific “flushing” genes. The big maturing biobanks in the Eastern and Western populations with different lifestyles, environments and genetic architectures will greatly improve our understanding about the aetiology of many diseases.