Immunogenetics or immungenetics is the branch of medical genetics that explores the relationship between the immune system and genetics. Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, are complex genetic traits which result from defects in the immune system. Identification of genes defining the immune defects may identify new target genes for therapeutic approaches. Alternatively, genetic variations can also help to define the immunological pathway leading to disease.
Origin
Its origin is usually attributed to Edward Jenner, who discovered in 1796 that cowpox, or vaccinia, induced protection against human smallpox. It took two centuries before the World Health Organization announced in 1979 that smallpox had been eradicated. The term immunogenetics is based on the two words immunology and genetics, and is defined as "a sub discipline of genetics which deals with the genetic basis of the immune response " according to MeSH. Genetics is the science researching the transfer of characteristics from one generation to the next. The genes of an organism and the transfer of genes from the parent to the child generation of an organism in the scope of possible variations are the basis of genetics. Immunology deals with the biological and biochemical basis for the body's defense against germs, as well as against foreign agents such as biological toxins and environmental pollutants, and failures and malfunctions of these defense mechanisms. Apart from these external effects on the organism, there are also defense reactions regarding the body's own cells, e.g. in the scope of the bodily reactions on cancer and the lacking reaction of a body on healthy cells in the scope of an immune-mediated disease. Hence, immunology is a sub-category of biology. The term immunogenetics comprises all processes of an organism, which are, on the one hand, controlled and influenced by the genes of the organism, and are, on the other hand, significant with regard to the immunological defense reactions of the organism.
History
The medical history of immunology and the immune system dates back to the 19th century. However, the prevention and early defense of diseases was an essential task for all shamans, medicine men and early "doctors" during the entire human evolution. The first Nobel Prize in the field of immunogenetics was awarded to Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset and George Davis Snell in 1980 for discovering genetically determined cellular surface structures, which control immunological reactions.
Current research fields
Since 1972, numerous H&I organizations have been founded specializing in research activities on a large number of different questions in immunogenetics. Both the acceleration of and the decreasing costs for the sequencing of the genes have resulted in a more intensive research of both academic and commercial working groups. Current research topics particularly deal with forecasts on the course of diseases and therapy recommendations due to genetic dispositions and how these dispositions can be affected by agents. A special focus is often laid on the forecast regarding and therapy of genetically based autoimmune diseases, which include all diseases caused by an extreme reaction of the immune system against the body's own tissue. By mistake, the immune system recognizes the body's own tissue as a foreign object which is to be fought. This can result in serious inflammatory reactions which may permanently damage the respective organs. Autoimmune diseases, the outbreak and/or course of which can be visible in the individual genome of the organism, include multiple sclerosis, diabetes type I, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. As for multiple sclerosis, an article in the journal Nature dated May 2010 showed that this autoimmune disease is not caused by a genetic variation but the course and the treatability are considerably influenced by genetic dispositions. This research was based on analyzing three monovular pairs of twins, of which one twin has contracted multiple sclerosis whereas the other one has not.
