For most people, a peanut butter sandwich poses no threat. But for the roughly 1.6 million children in the United States with peanut allergy, exposure can trigger a life-threatening reaction.
Why some individuals are susceptible while others are not has remained one of the most pressing unsolved questions in allergy research. A new study from the UNC School of Medicine points to an unexpected answer: The gut lining itself may be primed for allergy before a child ever encounters a peanut.