Pharmacogenetics and functional genomics in asthma

Asthma is a complex phenotype caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors that remain poorly understood. The common variants involved in the pathogenesis of asthma have proved difficult to identify by candidate gene association studies. As a result, few genetic variants influencing clinical response to asthma and allergy medications have been uncovered. Recently, genome-wide association, which is more robust in identifying common predisposition variants, has been applied to disorders such as asthma. As genome-wide associations are hypothesis-free, they raise the possibility of identifying novel biological pathways that could be translated to the future benefit of patients through improved diagnostic and therapeutic measures in the form of personalized medicine. This review addresses both recent advances in the genetics of asthma and their potential in transforming the treatment of the disorder into more individualized care in the near future.