Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of asthma identifies novel associations and highlights the value of increased power and diversity

Asthma is a complex disease that affects millions of people and varies in prevalence by an order of magnitude across geographic regions and populations. However, the extent to which genetic variation contributes to these disparities is unclear, as studies probing the genetics of asthma have been primarily limited to populations of European (EUR) descent. As part of the Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative (GBMI), we conducted the largest genome-wide association study of asthma to date (153,763 cases and 1,647,022 controls) via meta-analysis across 18 biobanks spanning multiple countries and ancestries. Altogether, we discovered 180 genome-wide significant loci (p