Genetics of allergy and bronchial hyperresponsiveness.

Allergy and asthma are closely related complex diseases caused by a combination of both genetic and environmental influences. Two common genetic approaches, candidate gene studies and genome-wide screens, have been used to localize and evaluate potential genetic factors that confer susceptibility or modify the phenotype of these diseases. Four genome screens suggest multiple chromosomal locations likely to contain asthma and allergy genes and many potential candidate genes exist in these regions. These screens were performed in six different populations and identified many common susceptibility regions as well as novel regions for each population. Ideally, these genes may point towards key biological pathways that will eventually serve as targets for therapeutic agents.