LAUSR

Asthma is a common airway disease that results from complex interactions among genetic and environmental factors. In the USA, asthma disparities by race and ethnicity are a well-known problem [1]: prevalence is highest among Puerto Ricans (16.1%), followed by non-Hispanic blacks (11.2%), non-Hispanic whites (7.7%) and Mexicans (5.4%) [2]. These disparities extend to asthma morbidity and mortality, which are highest in Puerto Ricans and African Americans compared to members of other racial/ethnic groups in the USA [3, 4]. Previous studies suggest that inter-ethnic differences in asthma risk and severity are related to differences in genetic ancestry, reflected by racial/ethnic categories [5]; however, the study of genetics in minority groups who share the largest asthma burden has lagged, compared to the study of the genetics of asthma in subjects of European ancestry [6]. Asthma GWAS of Puerto Rican individuals finds strongest association within the 17q21 ORMDL3/GSDMB locus http://ow.ly/M23930ayVbG