SMAD3 and asthma: A recent EWAS comparing methylation status in cord blood mononuclear cells from 36 children born to mothers with asthma, of whom 18 did and 18 did not develop asthma by age 9 years, identified 589 differentially methylated regions, including one near the asthma-associated gene SMAD3, implying that epigenetic changes may contribute to asthma pathogenesis long before disease develops [140].