Positionally cloned susceptibility genes in allergy and asthma.

After several years of research to find asthma-susceptibility genes using genome-wide linkage scans and refined genetic mapping methods, four highly interesting candidate genes have recently been reported. Each of these genes represents a different functional class, and might point to a new pathway in the pathogenesis of asthma. Current research is focusing on confirming the genetic associations in diverse populations and understanding the biochemical functions of the proteins. These second-generation candidate genes for asthma susceptibility will stimulate much research, and might also enable the testing of multigenic models with sufficiently large sample sets.