Study shows how genes affect immunity in response to pathogens

(University of Groningen) A study that is first in its kind and published in Nature Medicine today has looked at how far genetic factors control the immune cell response to pathogens in healthy individuals. A team investigated the response of immune cells from 200 healthy volunteers when stimulated with a comprehensive list of pathogens ex vivo, and has correlated these responses with 4 million genetic variants. The paper appeared on July 4, 2016.