Project 460492

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease afflicting patients of all ages, sexes, genders, and socioeconomic levels causing significant morbidity and mortality; consequently, generating substantial costs to the society. It results from the interaction of genetic and environmental factors, leading to diversity of symptoms as well as response to treatments. Genetic studies helped the association of several genes with asthma. However, these studies mainly focus on genetic variations present in a large proportion of individuals and represent only a small portion of the genetic factors involved in asthma development and severity. In this study, we intend to benefit from two large asthma familial studies from populations having a common genetic background (French Canadian and French) and the genealogical records of the BALSAC Quebec Population Register to integrate genetics and genealogies. The present project suggests a new method to investigate asthma genetics by combining genealogical data (familial links) and DNA sequences to identify new risk factors. It will yield insights to pathogenesis of asthma and offers a novel approach to investigate the genetics of frequent disorders.