Even as asthma continues to be one of the most serious respiratory diseases affecting millions of people globally and it hasn’t yet been addressed by curable treatments, the scientists have now discovered a potential pathway for effectively controlling it. A new study has revealed a “mechanistic link” between asthma and germs that could help finding a novel treatment. The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, pinpointed a major component of bacterial cell membranes through a molecule called lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which can trigger “pro-inflammatory molecules” such as the protein and cytokine oncostatin M (OSM). The research team also observed a reduced asthma-related symptoms in mice brought about by blocking OSM, which can lead to the potential development of antibodies and medicinal drugs.