Asthma-Related Gene Found in Study on Small Island, Firm Says

A San Diego biotechnology firm studying people on what has been dubbed the world’s “loneliest island,” says it has discovered a mutated gene that contributes to asthma--the first gene pinpointed that plays a role in the complex disease.

The company, Sequana Therapeutics, analyzed the DNA of people on Tristan da Cunha, an island in the south Atlantic midway between Africa and South America. About half of the 300 islanders have asthma symptoms, evidently because one of the original settlers last century had a genetic form of the disease that has been passed down through the largely inbred generations ever since.

After locating a suspect gene mutation among the Tristanians, the researchers confirmed that it affects other people with high asthma rates in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Sequana, which has filed a U.S. patent application for the gene discovery, is selling the information exclusively to the German drug company that funded the research, Boehringer Ingelheim, which plans to use it to develop asthma medications and diagnostic tests.

Other scientists have not had a chance to review the discovery announced today because Sequana has released no scientific details, such as the gene’s chemical sequence and chromosome location.

An estimated 15 million Americans have asthma, and 5% to 10% seem to have a genetic predisposition to it. Although several mutated genes appear to be involved in the disease, asthma is so common and mysterious that finding even one of them would be a major achievement, medical researchers said.