[Genetics of autoimmune diseases]

The publication of the human genome sequence this year was an important milestone in Biology. Autoimmune diseases arise through a complex interaction of genetics and environmental factors. They are influenced by more than one gene and do not exhibit a simple mode of inheritance. Some of the involved genes are thought to play a role in several autoimmune diseases whereas others seem to be specific for one of them. We have studied mainly genes located on the Major Histocompatibility Complex situated on the short arm of the 6th chromosome. This region is the most important genetic determinant for autoimmune diseases. It carries many genes playing a role in immune response and several have been observed to be associated with autoimmune diseases susceptibility. Although what has been published is just a draft of the human genome sequence, and a lot of work is needed to make sense of all these data and move into the study of gene function, the important technology breakthroughs of the last few years in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics will speedup the study and results may come much earlier than could be imagined some years ago.