Mold, genetics, ZIP codes — scientists and public health officials are looking in all kinds of places to tease out what causes asthma and how to prevent it.

The interplay of genes and environment — known as genomics — is the future of asthma study, says Karen Edwards, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington Center for Genomics and Public Health. Edwards presented current research Thursday at the Second Annual Asthma and Genomics Conference, sponsored by the Utah Department of Health.

The conference comes on the heels of a DOH study released last week showing that children living in Woods Cross/North Salt Lake, Riverdale and Glendale had asthma rates 9.2 to 13.1 percent higher than children in Bountiful, Provo south and north Orem. Now researchers have to figure out why. Is it the homes? The neighborhoods? Something about the families themselves?

Asthma tends to run in families. University of Utah graduate student Craig Teerlink told the conference about his study that used the Utah Population Database and death certificates to show that even third-degree relatives of people who died of asthma had a "significantly increased risk" of also dying of the disease.

But screening for a single "asthma gene" is unlikely, said Edwards, whose presentation began with her favorite cartoon: men in lab coats each showing off the needles they've found in a haystack, under the headline "The Search for Asthma Susceptibility Genes." More than 100 genes have so far been found to be linked to the complex, chronic disease.

In the meantime, as genetic research continues, public health researchers across the country are also taking oral family histories and trying innovative interventions.

In Michigan, the Department of Community Health is studying 300 low-income households that each have at least one child with asthma. Family histories of the participants reveal that 29 percent of the children have siblings with asthma, 30 percent have a father with asthma, 30 percent have a mother with asthma, and 82 percent have a first- or second-degree family member with the disease.

The project, the Healthy Home University Program, aims to teach the families about asthma triggers and also provides "intervention products" that include HEPA vacuums, mildew-proof shower curtains, and hypoallergenic mattress covers (at a total average cost of $370).

In the low-income Seattle neighborhood of High Point, a "Breathe Easy Homes" project has provided new housing for 35 families of children with asthma. The homes are built with airtight drywall, low-emission paints, HEPA filters and no carpets. The goal, Edwards says, is to "test the benefit of a new home over education-only intervention." To participate, the families had to agree to have no pets and no smoking.

After listening to Edwards' presentation, toxicologist Steven Packham of Utah's Division of Air Quality and the Utah Asthma Task Force, noted that "It almost seems doable, and that's very encouraging."

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com