Lifelines started in 2006 by collecting health data from 167,000 people from Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland.
Participants submit material such as urine, blood and hair once every five years, they receive function measurements and they regularly answer questionnaires.
Lifelines also manages the biobank with samples. It is a large freezer, the size of a small sports hall, containing millions of tubes of blood and urine. These are kept in a temperature of -80 degrees.