Immunogenetics special issue 2020: nomenclature, databases, and bioinformatics in immunogenetics

Abstract

In 2016, Immunogenetics published a special issue on the topic of evolution and origins of non-peptidic antigen recognition by T-lymphocytes (Zajonc and Flanik 2016). The contributions by leading experts in the field received wide attention and were well received by the journal’s readership. Encouraged by this, the editorial team decided to embark on another enterprise of this nature. This time the focus was on MHC/KIR in health and disease (Bontrop 2017). Again, the various contributions provided a state-of-the-art overview of the most recent advances in the field. The manuscript on the role of MHC genes on contagious cancer in Tasmanian devils was downloaded many times (Caldwall and Siddle 2018). The next special issue concentrated on the biology and evolution of antigen presentation (Kasahara et al. 2019). This issue contains at least two classic contributions that we believe will be a tremendous resource for many young scientists in the field. The first article – by Peter Cresswell, a renowned leader in the discipline – is a personal historical perspective that reads like a novel (Cresswell 2019), while the second article is a comprehensive introduction to the genetics of antigen processing and presentation (Kelly and Trowsdale 2019).