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  • Brief Communication
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Message from the new Editors-in-Chief

Genes & Immunity volume 20, pages 338–339 (2019)Cite this article

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Founded in 1999, Genes and Immunity has come a long way. Led by Editors-in-Chief Grant Gallagher (Department of Molecular Biology, Rowan University, NJ, USA) and Michael F. Seldin (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, UC Davis, CA, USA) over two decades, the journal established its position in the field of immunology and genetics of immunological diseases. Under the leadership of this duo, and stimulated by their own research interests [1, 2], the journal developed a particular focus in publishing studies on genetic, genomic or functional variations in the immune system, and their consequences for health and disease. Over the past 20 years, numerous studies describing novel genetic variants, mutations and polymorphisms of genes involved in fundamental processes of immune regulation and immunopathological disorders were published by the journal, and thereby not only contributed to a better understanding of the processes regulating immune responses, but also identified some of the underlying causes of immune-related disorders. Most notable are articles from this period describing cytokine gene polymorphism in human disease [3] (422 citations), the genetics of asthma [4] (413 citations), the role of CTLA4 in autoimmune diseases [5] (296 citations) or the role of RAGE polymorphism in rheumatoid arthritis [6] (260 citations). During this period, the editorial team were assisted by a large editorial board with expertise in diverse fields comprising some of the leading experts in the field of immunology and genetics of diseases. Together, they shaped the profile of the journal to what it represents today—a journal specialized in genetics of immunological disorders. Also, many more recent articles published in Genes and Immunity reflect the strong focus of the journal in analysis of genetic variability and immunological diseases, for example, the role of non-coding RNA in a rheumatoid arthritis risk locus [7], or variations of the 3′ UTR of the CTLA4 gene in type 1 diabetes [8].

At the same time, during the last 20 years, the field of immunology has seen a number of dramatic developments and discoveries. In particular, novel technologies and methods were introduced, and their availability to the scientific community allowed their widespread use by immunologists all over the world. Thus, cell and tissue-specific gene manipulations have become a standard of immunological research and the Crispr/Cas technology has further accelerated these studies [9, 10]. RNA and Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing has become affordable and bioinformatics tools allow efficient and timely analysis of large scale data sets [11, 12]. The development of humanized mice transplanted with human hematopoietic stem cells now allow the study of processes in human immune cells in intact organism and tissues, which was not accessible for experimental studies before [13, 14]. Sophisticated real-time imaging technologies permit the monitoring of immune cells in their tissue environment during their activation processes and to identify cell behaviors that promote efficient responses in lymphoid organs [15].

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

    Thomas Brunner

  2. Innate Immunity and Viruses Unit, Infection and Epidemiology Department, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

    Marie-Lise Gougeon

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  1. Thomas Brunner
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  2. Marie-Lise Gougeon
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Correspondence to Thomas Brunner.

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Brunner, T., Gougeon, ML. Message from the new Editors-in-Chief. Genes Immun 20, 338–339 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41435-018-0043-y

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