Immunity’s genetic link discovered

Almost 75% of immune traits are influenced by genes, according to researchers at King’s College London.

More than 20,000 immune traits in almost 500 adult female twins were analysed. Scientists discovered adaptive immune traits – the more complex responses that occur after exposure to a specific pathogen – are mostly influenced by genetics.

Dr Massino Mangino, lead researcher from King’s College London, said: “Our genetic analysis resulted in some unusual findings. This discovery could have a significant impact in treating a number of autoimmune diseases.”

Twins were used for the study so researchers could differentiate between genetic and environmental effects. Of the 23,395 traits examined, almost 18,000 showed a genetic influence, said Dr Mangino. Interestingly, researchers found innate – non-specific – responses often arose from environmental differences.

Professor Tim Spector, director of the TwinsUK Registry which the scientists at King’s used for their research said: “Our results surprisingly showed how most immune responses are genetic, very personalised and finely tuned. This may have big implications for future personalised therapy.”

Dr Mangino told Laboratory News, “We are collecting more samples to improve the statistical power of our dataset to expand our investigations and the next step is to link immunity to microbiome.”