New Publication in Immunity: “What Shapes Human Immunity”

What makes one person’s immune system different from another’s? A new Immunity Voices article, Approaches toward understanding human immunity, brings together researchers to explore that question. Our lab was one of the contributors.

The piece highlights how immunity isn’t defined by genes alone. It’s also molded by past infections, the microbes we live with, the food we eat, and the environments we move through. These factors interact to create immune systems as unique as fingerprints.

A central theme is the transformative role of technology. Advances in single-cell profiling, multi-omics, and large-scale data integration now allow researchers to capture immune diversity in unprecedented detail. These tools are beginning to reveal not just what varies between people, but why — and how that variation shapes responses to infection, vaccination, and disease.

Looking ahead, the authors argue that such human-centered approaches, powered by new technologies, could help explain why people respond so differently to immune challenges and open the way to more precise, personalized interventions.

Read the full article here: Approaches toward understanding human immunity.