Further, ex vivo mediator release tests such as the rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) assay and basophil activation test (BAT) enable an evaluation of the biological relevance of the IgE raised in food allergy animal models (see Data S1 for description and opinion about mediator release assays and additional passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) and active cutaneous anaphylaxis (ACA) models). The gene discussed is IGHE; the disease is food allergy.