Why Do Some People Develop Asthma and Others Don’t? | The Longevity Seat with Prof. William Cookson

Why do some people develop asthma while others exposed to the same environment never do? And what does the microbiome living inside our lungs have to do with it? In this episode of The Longevity Seat, we speak with Professor William Cookson, Professor of Genomic Medicine at Imperial College London, whose work spans the genetics of asthma, gene–environment interactions, the lung microbiome and respiratory disease. We explore how our genes, environment, immune system and airway microbiome interact to shape respiratory health, and what this could mean for the future of more personalised respiratory care. In this episode: • Why asthma and allergic disease have become more common in some populations • Why healthy lungs were once thought to be sterile • What actually lives inside the lung microbiome • How genetics and environmental exposure influence asthma risk • The relationship between microbes and the immune system • The effects of pollution, antibiotics and vaping on respiratory health • Whether the lung microbiome can recover after disruption • How personalised respiratory medicine could evolve The Longevity Seat brings together researchers, clinicians and experts to make complex science around health and longevity more accessible, practical and relevant. Produced by Phenome Longevity.