Researchers from Mount Sinai have identified six genes involved in severe peanut allergies. These six genes activate hundreds of other genes in children who experience severe allergic reactions to peanuts. A study, published online in Nature Communications December 5, 2017, is the first study in human trials to identify genes driving acute peanut allergic reactions with comprehensive sequencing of genes expressed before, during, and after they ingested peanut. The study assessed gene expression in children over the course of their allergic reactions, wherein each subjects reaction was compared to their own pre-reaction state. These genes and molecular processes could serve as potential targets for new therapies to treat peanut-allergy reactions and could be important to understanding how peanut allergy works.