Telling the tiger by its stripes: mapping the genomics of kidney graft tolerance in real time

Though the majority of kidney allografts are eventually lost to the process of chronic rejection, there are instances when kidney function is maintained after patients have stopped their immunosuppression. Baron and colleagues have examined the blood gene signature of patients with spontaneous kidney tolerance and identified a series of genes that they suggest define kidney graft acceptance. This exciting development provides a potential list of biomarkers defining immunological tolerance in humans.