Gene-Environment Interactions in Asthma: Genetic and Epigenetic Effects.

ABSTRACT: Over the past three decades, a large number of genetic studies have been aimed at finding genetic variants associated with the risk of asthma, applying various genetic and genomic approaches including linkage analysis, candidate gene polymorphism studies, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, contrary to general expectation, even single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) discovered by GWAS failed to fully explain the heritability of asthma. Thus, application of rare allele polymorphisms in well defined phenotypes and clarification of environmental factors have been suggested to overcome the problem of 'missing' heritability. Such factors include allergens, cigarette smoke, air pollutants, and infectious agents during pre- and post-natal periods. The first and simplest interacti

SUBMITTER: Lee JU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4479853 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature