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Nature 418, 383-384 (25 July 2002) | doi:10.1038/418383a

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Genetics: Inherit the wheeze

Jeffrey M. Drazen & Scott T. Weiss

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A study of families containing asthma sufferers has led to the discovery of a gene that is associated with the disease. The finding brings the biological basis of asthma into sharper focus.

Asthma — a condition that afflicts hundreds of millions of people worldwide — has been recognized by physicians and lay people for more than two millennia. One would think that after all this time, and with so many affected people, we would understand the root causes of the disease.

  1. Jeffrey M. Drazen is in the Pulmonary Division, and Scott T. Weiss is in the Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

Correspondence to: e-mail: Email: jdrazen@nejm.org