CFTR and hereditary disease: Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common autosomal recessive lethal genetic disease in the Caucasian population (Strausbaugh and Davis, 2007), is caused by mutations on the gene coding for CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator), an anion selective channel that transports chloride and bicarbonate in the apical membrane of epithelium.