A family history of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or various types of cancers (including prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, melanoma, breast cancer and colon cancer) leads to a relative risk for these diseases that is two to five times higher than that of people without a positive family history, irrespective of known genetic associations (e.g., BRCA1/2) [6]. The gene discussed is BRCA1; the disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.