BACKGROUND: Maternal asthma and child's sex are among the most significant and
reproducible risk factors for the development of asthma. Although the mechanisms for these
effects are unknown, they likely involve nonclassical genetic mechanisms. One such
mechanism could involve the transfer and persistence of maternal cells to her offspring, a
common occurrence known as maternal microchimerism (MMc). MMc has been associated
with many autoimmune diseases but has not been investigated for a role in asthma or …