Molecular biology and genetics of allergy and asthma.

In the past few years considerable progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of allergy at the cellular and subcellular level. In particular, advances in cell biology and DNA technology have shed light on the cell interactions that are pivotal in orchestrating the inflammation underlying allergy. Although much has now been established in the cellular mechanism of allergic inflammation, the fundamental question of why some people suVer from the disease and others do not has only begun to be answered by molecular genetics, which has implicated the inheritance of several genes that predispose to the development of allergy.