Novel asthma-associated genes from genome-wide association studies: what is their significance?

Asthma is a complex syndrome leading to the easily recognizable clinical feature of wheezing. This is believed to be caused by inflammation, constriction of the airway smooth muscles, and extensive mucus secretion. However, the mechanisms initiating and maintaining these simple clinical features are not well understood, even after 100 years of asthma research. Still worse is our understanding of why certain individuals develop asthma and others do not.