Interactions Between Secondhand Smoke and Genes That Affect Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease

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Abstract
With the availability of the human genome sequence, a new challenge has arisen, namely, determining the role of genetic factors in disease variation and their effects on clinical outcomes. The genes of an organism operate within the context of environmental exposures. Therefore, quantifying the effect of genes on disease variation requires accounting for interactions with key environmental factors. Single gene disorders such as cystic fibrosis (CF) present an opportunity to examine these interactions in a disease of uniform etiology. Cystic fibrosis is caused by mutations in a single gene, the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, and affects more than 30 000 individuals in the United States.