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 Field studies in Ecuador The GABRIEL Project in detail  Environmental studies at the University of Munich  
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GABRIEL and asthma in the European CommunityThe GABRIEL Consortium consists of a collaboration between 35 partners at major scientific research institutions across the European Community, and has recently added partners from Ecuador, Russia and Hong Kong. Every member has a history of research into this devastating disease, and they have now come together to try to solve the problems it creates, with the help of the FP6 European funding programme. Asthma is not one disease, but many, manifesting in different ways and with different causes, according to the individual. GABRIEL has set itself the task of discovering the mechanisms which both cause and protect against the set of symptoms which can devastate lives. Some disturbing factsMany children who develop the disease will go on to experience symptoms throughout life. 10% of adult onset asthma is caused by workplace exposure to dusts and chemicals. It can lead to job loss and deterioration of quality of life for whole families. A combination of smoking and asthma can lead to Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease, the 6th most common cause of death in the world today. A JRC study for the EU discovered that the cost to member states of treating children under the age of 15 is a staggering 3 billion Euros per year. The aim of the GABRIEL Project is to discover the genetic and environmental causes of asthma, and to lead the development of new preventative and therapeutic strategies to combat the asthma epidemic in Europe and worldwide. The University of Munich starts field work for the investigation into the environmental influence on asthmaThe first phase of the field studies in Germany has been completed, with thousands of school children in Bavaria having been given GABRIEL recruitment questionnaires. Of 293 selected elementary schools in 18 rural districts 247 (84.3%) have approved admittance to the study to 40,419 pupils. To guarantee the highest participation rates, 19 field workers were especially trained at Munich study centre. They visited all participating schools to inform them of the study details and to hand out recruitment questionnaires personally. DNA samples were taken from the participants, and are being analysed as part of the GABRIEL study. The logistics of this trial have been phenomenal, with thousands of miles covered by the field workers, and the samples transported and refrigerated every day at the University of Munich. It is hoped that one of the things this study will help to shed light on is why children living in farming communities are often protected against asthma. The Munich GABRIEL study team also provides teachers with material for school lessons on asthma and allergies. This material may also be downloaded from http://gabriel.web.med.uni-muenchen.de.
Blood samples from the study Bavarian Farm Professors Cookson and von Mutius at a
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Was Bauernkinder vor Asthma schützt (What protects farm children from asthma?)