Expanding the scope of human immunology in the Journal of Human Immunity

TL;DR

The Journal of Human Immunity is expanding its focus to include a wider range of immunological studies, emphasizing the potential of genetic research in understanding various disorders.

Contribution

The paper introduces a broader scope for the journal, encouraging studies on diverse immunological conditions and their genetic underpinnings.

Findings

The current range of genetic immunological disorders is considered the tip of the iceberg.

Systematic research into monogenic lesions can provide insights into various diseases.

Rare genetic causes may reveal mechanisms relevant to more common conditions.

Abstract

A broader scope for the Journal of Human Immunity.

The Journal of Human Immunity (JHI) publishes molecular, cellular, and clinical studies of patients with inborn errors of immunity, or their phenocopies, including autoimmune and somatic disorders. A central tenet in the field is that the current range of genetic immunological disorders is only the tip of the iceberg, given the wide range of conditions and populations, and countless patients not yet studied from this angle. Systematic research into causal monogenic lesions is appropriate and likely to be informative in many infectious, allergic, inflammatory, autoimmune, and malignant disorders. Rare or even private genetic etiologies may be of heuristic value, revealing physiological mechanisms disrupted by other, more common genetic or other causes in other patients. In this context, the journal welcomes all immunological studies in line with this vision, in which molecular, cellular, or clinical abnormalities in individuals are seen as candidate phenotypes, potentially driven by inborn errors of immunity—monogenic or otherwise—worthy of genetic investigation.