Because the mutational inactivation of Sesn2 in a genetic mouse model of pulmonary emphysema partially rescues the emphysema phenotype (Wempe et al., 2010), we wanted to investigate whether Sesn2 inactivation would have a similar effect on the pathology of the medically more relevant, environmentally induced emphysemas. This evidence concerns the gene SESN2 and pulmonary emphysema.