If people frequently have severe and protracted infections, an inborn error of immunity may be the cause. To date, almost 500 genes have been found that are associated with such immune deficiencies. However, there is as yet no publicly accessible platform containing comprehensive and up-to-date information on these genes, the mechanisms that cause them and their consequences for humans.
RESIST Professor Dr. Michele Proietti and Dr. Andrés Caballero-Oteyza from the MHH Department of Immunology and Rheumatology and the Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI) in Freiburg, together with other scientists, are currently establishing such a database. The “Genetic Immunology Advisor (GenIA)” platform is intended to help better characterize inborn errors of immunity and ultimately enable diagnoses to be made. “Our goal is for GenIA to become the reference database for all colleagues around the world who are dealing with suspected inborn errors of immunity,” says Prof. Proietti.
GenIA has already developed into an international joint project and aims to dovetail with existing databases. All stored data on 24 genes to date has been extracted and stored by manually reviewing published research articles. An article on this was recently published in the renowned Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The photos show Professor Dr. Michele Proietti and Dr. Andrés Caballero-Oteyza.