This article outlines the main ethical issues debated in relation to population-based genetic research biobanks. There aremany types of biobanking, but few have attracted as much ethical attention as population-based ones. Some possible reasonsfor this are discussed along with considerations of the political landscape of biobank ethics before the themes dominating theliterature are presented: consent to participation; good governance; fairness and reciprocity; commercialization; trust andtrustworthiness; and unintended effects such as breaches of confidentiality and privacy, surveillance, and social changes.