A genetic approach to the study of lung physiology: Understanding biological variability in airway responsiveness

Genetic techniques are generally applicable to almost any trait or physiological process for which biological variability can be demonstrated. These methods have not commonly been applied to studies on lung pathophysiology, however. The aim of this commentary will be to introduce and discuss the potential application of genetic methods to research on the pathophysiology of asthma. Recent efforts to identify genes that determine airway hyperresponsiveness in the genetically standardized inbred laboratory mouse will be reviewed. These experiments demonstrate how genetic background influences the expression of airway responsiveness to certain environmental stimuli and illustrate the application of selected genetic resources. A discussion follows on how these genetic models may potentially provide insight into asthma and our understanding of the molecular physiology and genetic regulation of airway hyperreactivity to various stimuli.