A "groundbreaking" discovery from Wellington's Malaghan Institute of Medical Research has highlighted a missing piece in the link between the skin and the development of allergies.

Termed the most important immunological discovery from New Zealand in 20 years, the research has found a molecule constantly present in the skin that favours allergic reaction.

For the past decade immunologists have been aware that exposure to allergens through the skin affected a person's predisposition to food allergies.

But the discovery of a molecule called IL-13 shows why the skin might be primed to allergic response.

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