Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide, responsible for more deaths than HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 64 million people worldwide suffer from the disease that claims more than three million lives each year. It is the only so-called leading cause of death still on the rise and the WHO estimates it will be the third leading cause of death by 2020. In addition to mortality, COPD is a leading cause of chronic disability worldwide.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that fifteen million people have been diagnosed with COPD and at least as many have undiagnosed COPD. Of the over thirty million people with COPD in the U.S., 125,000 will die from the disease each year.

Lineagen COPD Initiatives

In an effort to uncover genetic associations that could inform the understanding of the very heterogeneous COPD disease biology, Lineagen, through a series of corporate and academic collaborations, has combined traditional genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with gene expression, proteomics, metabonomics, and mathematical clinical phenotype modeling. The goal: to discover genes and pathways bringing together biochemical measurements and disease etiology for the discovery of novel diagnostic markers useful for the earlier detection of COPD.

These programs represent one of the most comprehensive studies of COPD involving multiple scientific disciplines. This approach is often referred to as Systems Biology and seeks to understand the entire pathway of the disease from DNA to proteins to symptoms.