While it is the ORMDL3 and GSDMB genes in the 17q21 region that have been repeatedly linked with asthma in numerous other populations, it is not unreasonable to expect the immediately adjacent PERLD1 in the 17q12 region to also be directly associated with asthma in a Singapore Chinese population which has yet to be studied for the disease. This evidence concerns the gene GSDMB and asthma.