[Research trends in molecular genetics of respiratory medicine]

In order to identify necessary or susceptibility genes of respiratory diseases, molecular genetic approaches have been chosen more frequently than before because a tremendous number of anonymous markers over the human genome are now available. However, conventional linkage analysis such as the maximum likelihood method and affected sib-pair analysis have limitations mainly due to heterogeneity of disease genes. Association studies have more power to detect susceptibility genes, however, they tend to yield more false positive results than linkage studies unless corrected for multiple observations. There are some new methods potentially applicable to a genome-wide search for candidate genes. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Reverse genetics is promising but destined to return to regular biochemical, physiological, and clinical approaches of respiratory medicine.