Swallowtail66, can you explain to me a bit more about allelles? I know each parent contributes one CFTR gene but do they also contribute variants? We have rampant autoimmune disease in our family. I have Grave's, my sister has SLE (Lupus) and my cousin has some unusual eye disease (going blind) (also autoimmune) and she has Hashimoto's (autoimmune) and both my parents are diabetic (type II but still). On my husband's side, his sister has Raynaud's and had to move to a warmer climate as a result, his maternal GM died of Grave's and His father has Lupus too. So, when my daughter was dx with JRA (juvenile arthritis) I was really not surprised, but to add to the mix ruling out CF, I was floored since noone in the family has CF. (not that that matters, you don't know unless tested). When she came back as "just " a carrier, but with many Resp. issues that are still unresolved, and asthma therapy is sort of helping, but never halted her mucusy cough, I knew there's got to be more to it than meets the eye. Also, incidently, she was dx with JRA AND had all the lung issues crop up within only 2 months of each other. Maybe something genetic triggered something? All I know is, my daughter has not been the same since, and I am still very worried about her. She does not seem to have digestive issues perse, but is on prevacid for heartburn, and does c/o stomach pain frequently. However, she is very very small for her age. (her brother who is 2.5 years younger than her, age 5 is now an inch taller)... she is 110cm and 40 pounds. Age 8! I am very interested to know if you can tell me more about the HLA.. is it a protein? gene? other? How do you think the HLA thing interplays with the severe asthma and JRA diagnosis and the CF one mutant gene? Thank you!!!