Science Correspondent for The Guardian. Get in touch: hannah.devlin@theguardian.com or DM.
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Joined January 2009
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Hannah Devlin retweeted
There was no hack. Some researchers had carelessly made the data available and then bad actors obtained it and tried to sell it. Full story by Hannah Devlin @hannahdev was published in the Guardian last month: theguardian.com/science/2026…
For anyone following UK Biobank story, here's our investigation from last month revealing dozens of breaches, which now raises questions about whether more could have been done sooner... theguardian.com/science/2026…
Hannah Devlin retweeted
Confidential health records from UK BioBank project exposed online, reveals @hannahdev theguardian.com/science/2026…
Hannah Devlin retweeted
Confidential health records from @uk_biobank project exposed online theguardian.com/science/2026… via @hannahdev et al
Hello, i'm a journalist at the Guardian and would like to speak to you about the coding competition. Please could you DM me or email at hannah.devlin@theguardian.com
@JoeMMulhern Hi Joe, I'd like to get in touch for a Guardian article - would you mind following so i can message you
To clarify, there’s no dispute that this company has used authorised UK Biobank access to develop its polygenic embryo screening service. UK Biobank has said this isn’t a breach of its access terms. Not sure if that’s what you’re questioning though.
Not sure it’s tall enough to be a parasol. If it’s parasol-like but quite small it could be poisonous so don’t eat unless confident!
Do you not think there’s an ethical issue around volunteers’ expectations of what their data might be used for? (Given this was authorised access)
Of course, these activists trade on the illusion of science rather than any credible scientific evidence. But volunteers can still have an expectation that their data is not used to further these malign political objectives - even if this "research" is nonsense
The article is written for the general reader, for whom this level of detail would probably be excessive. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t considered.
Hannah Devlin retweeted
Very valuable perspectives from community organisations on the implications of attempts to rehabilitate scientific racism via @aamnamohdin theguardian.com/world/2024/o…
This is not true. We shared transcripts of technical discussions with two very senior scientists, who have extensive experience of UKB data, as well as two data experts. They concluded the most natural interpretation was that individual level data was being discussed
Interested in what others make of the authorised use of UK Biobank data to build an embryo screening tool for cognitive abilities and other polygenic traits. Is this “health related research in the public interest”?
Hannah Devlin retweeted
US startup #HeliospectGenomics charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’ theguardian.com/science/2024… via @hannahdev et al @susan_bewley @ProfJoyceHarper
REVEALED: US startup charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’. Latest piece with @tomburgis @davidtpegg & @jason_a_w theguardian.com/science/2024…
I don't think the article is framed as a privacy issue. The concern is that activists motivated by racist ideology claim to be using a public database to further that dangerous political agenda.
Hannah Devlin retweeted
And here is my contribution to the Guardian and @hopenothate's extensive report. If you know the history of eugenics, and scientific racism, it is galling to see it repeat and rhyme over and over again. Which is why it needs exposing.
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
