When we were asked to do the first homework assignment for BIOL 463, I talked about focusing on dystrophin as a project topic. My second question was about Asthma. After thinking about it more, Asthma and all the research associated with it has really captured my attention. Asthma is gradually becoming a major issue in North America, and despite all the work done on it, we can’t really say that there has been much of an advancement in terms of solving this chronic disease.

As there is so many different variables to asthma, it’s better to focus on a certain aspect of it. So my research question would be this:

Q. The increased incidence of asthma in North America over the last decade has been hypothesized to be a result of increased epigenetically-derived changes being passed down. What epigenetic changes are responsible for higher incidence of asthma? Can certain epigenetic markers be associated with someone being at higher risk for asthma incidence?

Please let me know if the question is too broad or if you find any other issues with it. I’m always looking for feedback.

Cheers!