Researchers with the Human Immunome Project are doing what was previously thought impossible: mapping and simulating the entire human immune system.

Given that the entire human genome was mapped in 13 years by the Human Genome Project, this plan might not seem so outlandish. However, the immune system is on an entirely different scale of complexity and size.

The project is led by Wayne Koff, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard, but collaborators from around the world are doing vital work for the project too. Most of these collaborators are collecting the large amounts of data that the Immunome Project requires.

Right now researchers are sequencing vast numbers of B and T cells, which are vital immune cells. The team hopes that it will be able to plug this data into AI models to fill the gaps and build a model of what healthy B and T cells should look like.

With this model they can study how these cells are affected by age, pathogens and various other variables to help solve a multitude of pressing medical problems.

Why is This Project So Important?

Many of the most harmful and least understood diseases today fall into the class of autoimmune disorders. This category of diseases, which can be triggered by various factors, occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own cells instead of harmful pathogens.

There are over 100 autoimmune disorders but some of the most common and well-known include HIV, multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, type 1 diabetes, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Over 50 million Americans have one or more autoimmune disorders according to the Autoimmune Association.

The potential medical advancements derived from this project would extend beyond these well-known autoimmune disorders. Koff thinks that it could help improve the immune systems of the elderly, greatly increasing their protection against pathogens and likely extending many lifespans.

Researchers are also hoping that the project could help reduce the massive global problem of preterm births and miscarriages. Many of these complications seem to be caused by immune reactions so understanding the system better could lead to the development of an effective preventative treatment.

If mapping and simulating the entire human immune system can help find cures for many autoimmune disorders, which researchers think is likely, it could be one of the greatest medical accomplishments of the century.

Why Is It So Difficult?

Both the enormous scale and complexity of the human immune system makes this task exorbitantly difficult. Even the Human Genome Project’s incredible accomplishment of mapping the 20,000 genes and 3 billion base pairs in the human genome doesn’t compare.

The sheer amount of data that needs to be processed and mapped is millions of times larger and more complex than the human genome. The immune system is much more diverse and sensitive to outside factors than the human genome.

Researchers will need to simulate not only the various cells and proteins vital to the immune system, but also the diverse factors that affect them, such as pathogens, toxins, environmental factors, diet, and more. Unlike the relatively stable human genome, the immune system is dynamic, constantly building new immunities and fluctuating in strength.

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