Prof. Dr. Klaus Rajewsky interviewed by Dr. Anne Hahn

1. In your opinion, what are the big remaining mysteries to be solved in the field of immunology?

We are living in revolutionary times, increasingly realizing that the immune system plays major, but distinct roles in different parts of the body and most human diseases. While our understanding is still very limited, new technical tools become available at unprecedented pace to elucidate these complex relationships and to develop new targeted therapies. Just think of the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in less than a year!

2. What were important milestones in your career? Were there any difficult decisions to make and where did you find support?

After studying medicine and chemistry, I had produced an MD thesis on enzyme immunochemistry and continued that work as a postdoc at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Having sneaked into seminars in the laboratory of Jacob and Monod, I took up, in 1962, an offer to set up a mini-group at the Institute for Genetics in Cologne, which had just been founded by Max Delbrück. Developing my interests in immunology in this initially quite foreign environment of modern molecular biology was a stroke of luck. In the end I headed a large new immunology department, where we pioneered Cre-mediated targeted mutagenesis in mice and explored problems of antibody diversification, T-B cell interaction and B cell lymphomagenesis.

3. What is your advice for early career students who are passionate about science but have concerns about academic environment due to its competitiveness and workplace insecurity?

If you are passionate about science and talented, absolutely follow through on it! Try to go to places where top scientists are around, and develop your own ideas. Not much can really go wrong with so many opportunities available, except that you will need energy and dedication, the willingness to enter unfamiliar territories such as computational biology for experimentalists, plus a bit of luck of course. I have rarely seen talented young scientists fail!

4. How do you perceive the development of EJI over the past 50 years? Do you think publication policies are changing since you were EJI Executive Committee member?

When we founded EJI in 1971, we had the ambition of establishing a forum for the best immunological work coming out of Europe (Britain included), of course hoping that the quality of the journal would eventually also attract top papers from other parts of the world. I still remember how proud I was when I managed to get Niels Jerne's visionary paper on the somatic generation of immune recognition into EJI volume 1, page 1! Many key papers followed over the next years. With the dramatic expansion and internationalization of the scientific community EJI now serves the global community of immunologists.

5. Which opportunities does EJI have to offer for early career researchers? Do you think journal metrics and publication records are still appropriate measures to assess the success or excellence of a researcher?

My impression is that EJI continues to publish without succumbing to the dictatorship of trendiness. I really hope that this editorial policy can be maintained – it's an essential element in the progress of science. This being said, a good publication record surely doesn't argue against scientific excellence!

克劳斯·拉杰夫斯基教授接受安妮·哈恩博士的采访

1. 在您看来，免疫学领域还有哪些未解之谜？

我们生活在革命时代，越来越意识到免疫系统在身体的不同部位和大多数人类疾病中起着重要但不同的作用。虽然我们的理解仍然非常有限，但新的技术工具正以前所未有的速度出现，以阐明这些复杂的关系并开发新的靶向疗法。想想不到一年时间就开发出了 COVID-19 mRNA 疫苗！

2. 您职业生涯中的重要里程碑是什么？是否有任何困难的决定需要做出？您从哪里获得支持？

在学习了医学和化学之后，我完成了一篇关于酶免疫化学的 MD 论文，并继续在巴黎巴斯德研究所担任博士后工作。在潜入雅各布和莫诺实验室的研讨会后，我于 1962 年接受了在科隆遗传学研究所成立一个小型小组的提议，该研究所刚刚由马克斯·德尔布吕克创立。在现代分子生物学这个最初相当陌生的环境中培养我对免疫学的兴趣是一种运气。最后，我领导了一个新的大型免疫学部门，在那里我们率先在小​​鼠中进行了 Cre 介导的靶向诱变，并探索了抗体多样化、TB 细胞相互作用和 B 细胞淋巴瘤发生等问题。

3. 对于那些对科学充满热情但由于其竞争力和工作场所不安全感而担心学术环境的早期职业学生，您有什么建议？

如果您对科学充满热情并有才华，请务必坚持到底！尝试去顶尖科学家所在的地方，发展自己的想法。有这么多可用的机会并不会出错，除了你需要精力和奉献精神，愿意进入不熟悉的领域，例如实验学家的计算生物学，当然还有一点运气。我很少看到有才华的年轻科学家失败！

4. 您如何看待EJI 50年来的发展？您认为自从您成为 EJI 执行委员会成员以来，出版政策是否发生了变化？

我们在 1971 年创立 EJI 时的雄心是为来自欧洲（包括英国）的最好的免疫学工作建立一个论坛，当然希望期刊的质量最终也能吸引来自世界其他地区的顶尖论文. 我仍然记得当我设法将 Niels Jerne 关于免疫识别的体细胞生成的有远见的论文纳入 EJI 第 1 卷第 1 页时，我是多么自豪！在接下来的几年里，许多关键论文相继问世。随着科学界的急剧扩张和国际化，EJI 现在为全球免疫学家社区提供服务。

5. EJI 必须为早期职业研究人员提供哪些机会？您认为期刊指标和发表记录是否仍然是评估研究人员成功或卓越的适当措施？

我的印象是 EJI 继续出版，没有屈服于潮流的独裁。我真的希望这个编辑政策能够保持下去——它是科学进步的一个基本要素。话虽如此，良好的出版记录肯定不会反对科学卓越！