Corey Watson

Very happy to see this new and improved IG genetic resource for Rhesus Macaque published today in Immunity! An enjoyable and fruitful collaboration with Steve Bosinger & team (Emory), @guryaari.bsky.social, @ayeletperes.bsky.social and @williamlees.bsky.social - More to come!
doi.org/10.1016/j.im...

Happy to see this work on IG light chains from @e-engelbrecht1.bsky.social in press www.nature.com/articles/s41...
How else will germline variation impact the expressed repertoire? Can't wait to see!
Thanks to awesome collabs:
@williamlees.bsky.social @guryaari.bsky.social @ayeletperes.bsky.social

Immunogenomics Approaches to Studying Antibody Repertoires and Vaccine Responses in Ruminants Ruminant species are vital for agriculture, ecosystems, and conservation and remain vulnerable to infectious and zoonotic diseases. Advances in genome sequencing and genomics now enable high-resolutio...

If you thought human IG was complicated, ruminant IG wants to change your mind! Awesome overview of the ruminant IG genomic landscape by Yana Safonova (Penn State) www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

The current landscape of adaptive immune receptor genomic and repertoire data: OGRDB and VDJbase Abstract. Accurate characterization of adaptive immune receptor repertoires through high-throughput sequencing is critical for understanding immune respons

🧬 VDJbase and OGRDB: 3000+ IG/TR samples across human and rhesus macaque with curated AIRR-seq and long-read genomic data.
LET'S CHANGE THE WAY WE UTILIZE IG/TR GENOMIC AND REPERTOIRE DATA! @guryaari.bsky.social @williamlees.bsky.social @ayeletperes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

Query by ancestry, tissue, chain, or study.

Explore allele usage, haplotypes, and gene presence/absence with interactive tools.

Download via API or browser.

Fully FAIR, MiAIRR-compliant, open, and versioned.

vdjbase.org

#AIRR #Immunogenetics

The current landscape of adaptive immune receptor genomic and repertoire data: OGRDB and VDJbase Abstract. Accurate characterization of adaptive immune receptor repertoires through high-throughput sequencing is critical for understanding immune respons

New manuscript out in NAR! tinyurl.com/4rrbuesn
🧬 VDJbase and OGRDB now support 3000+ IG/TR samples across human and rhesus macaque with curated AIRR-seq and long-read genomic data. From population analysis to precision annotation. @guryaari.bsky.social @cdubsig.bsky.social @williamlees.bsky.social

LifeSciKY welcomes three biotech startups to Covington’s new OneNKY Center LifeSciKY’s new lab at the OneNKY Center in Covington welcomed three biotech startups focused on cancer therapy, genomics and fertility.

LifeSciKY has welcomed three biotech startups to the new OneNKY Center in Covington. Learn more about the companies and their work in cancer research, immune profiling, and fertility innovation.
linknky.com/business/ent...

Excited to see our work on IGHC diversity out! Huge shoutout to @uddalok.bsky.social for leading this study.

🧬 The data is now available on VDJbase, our open resource for exploring B and T cell germline variation across populations. 🧑‍🔬 Go and Explore vdjbase.org!

#immunogenetics #VDJbase

The human IG heavy chain constant gene locus is enriched for large structural variants and coding polymorphisms that vary among human populations Genetic variation within immunoglobulin heavy chain constant (IGHC) genes modulates interactions between antibodies and other immune receptors and effector cells, directing cell killing and the cleara...

Happy to announce the publication of our work exploring under-appreciated genetic diversity in the human IGHC region. Awesome work by @uddalok.bsky.social. So grateful for our amazing co-authors.
@williamlees.bsky.social @guryaari.bsky.social @ayeletperes.bsky.social

www.cell.com/cell-genomic...

Dynamic control of autoreactive B cells from spontaneous germinal centers Abstract. Systemic lupus erythematosus is characterized by activation of many self-reactive B cell clones that produce autoantibodies. This can be modeled

'The mechanisms controlling the inclusion of new B cell clones into spontaneous germinal centers (GCs) remain unclear. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we generated 2 autoreactive B cell receptor knock-in strains, M05 and G55, based on B cell receptors from WT GC B cells in WT:564Igi chimeras'

A screenshot of the old style '10 PM, do you know where your children are?' PSA poster, with the 'children are?' scribbled out and 'TCR germline gene reference comes from?' crudely pasted over the top.

I've got a PSA to the T cell receptor researchers of #immunosky to let you know about a new paper we've just got out: doi.org/10.1016/j.im...

This covers how our field is handling the sets of germline #TCR genes used in our research. Maybe not the most glamorous topic, but it’s kind of a big deal…

FFS.

Challenges for the immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene nomenclatures in the modern genomics era For over thirty years, an approach to the nomenclatures of human immunoglobulin (IG) and T cell receptor (TR) genes has operated successfully and has …

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Building immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene databases for the future Genetic databases for immunoglobulin (IG) and T cell receptor (TR) genes have evolved from small catalogs to critical resources underpinning immunogen…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The gremlin in the works: why T cell receptor researchers need to pay more attention to germline reference sequences The rise of T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing technologies is driving both new understandings of the immune system and the development of novel clinica…

Hi. If you're interested in learning more about the state of play in IG and T cell receptor gene curation, check out these articles:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@jamieheather.bsky.social @guryaari.bsky.social @williamlees.bsky.social @ayeletperes.bsky.social @elisarosix.bsky.social

Clareo! Aging, RPM and more... Neat!

Check out this week's newsletter, featuring @clareobio.bsky.social!

Thrilled to be featured in GenomeWeb! 🧬

Stuck behind the paywall? We got you. Here's the TL;DR on how Clareo is pioneering the next generation of immune profiling with full-length antibody sequencing.

Find it here: lnk.bio/clareobio

#Biotech #Genomics #LongReads #Immunology

🌟 Meet "Rosie" - our new @pacbio.bsky.social Vega sequencer! Named after Rosalind Franklin, she'll supercharge our ProfilAIR & GenotypAIR services with faster, more comprehensive B & T cell receptor profiling. Better data = better biomarkers, faster vaccine design, and more precise therapeutics!

‘Congress has your back’: US senators tell scientists they want to protect NIH budget Senate budget bill includes small increase for the health-research agency — but faces a long road before being signed into law.

Big win for science: The US senate rejects 40% cuts to NIH funding and instead proposes $400M increase. A clear sign that Congresd is standing behind biomedical research www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Pospelova et al. present a comparative analysis of adaptive immune loci across diverse mammalian species, uncovering relationships between locus architecture, characteristics of immune genes, and population dynamics. The artwork illustrates how the structure of immunoglobulin heavy chain loci influences gene variability in three representative species from the study – the mountain lion, the ring-tailed lemur, and European hedgehog.

Pospelova et al. present a comparative analysis of full-length sequences of IG/TR loci across 46 mammalian species, demonstrating these as rapidly evolving genomic regions, with implications for immunogenomics.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf152

#evobio #molbio

Know an Evolutionary Genomicist looking for a faculty position? Join us in EEB @utknoxville.bsky.social Position is open for studying any organism, but personally I have some botany bias. 🌱 Apply before Sept 19 for full consideration. apply.interfolio.com/170735 Please share widely. Thanks!

Are you an immunologist working towards your first R01?

Please join @aai.org and take advantage of programs like our Grant Review for Immunologists Program www.aai.org/Careers/GRIP

We pair early career principal investigators with established mentors. Send me a chat for more info

T-cell Receptor and Immunoglobulin Nomenclature Sub-Committee » IUIS Since this Sub-Committee has not addressed MHC/HLA nomenclature for several decades, the name of the Sub-Committee has been changed to “T-cell Receptor and Immunoglobulin Nomenclature Sub-Committee”…

5/6 What can we do now?
We outline strategies in the paper:
✔️ Clear, provisional reporting formats
✔️ Transparent criteria for future naming
✔️ Global dialogue to shape consensus
Let’s build something better—together.
🧠🌍

iuis.org/committees/n...

Challenges for the Immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene nomenclatures in the modern genomics era For over thirty years, an approach to the nomenclatures of human immunoglobulin (IG) and T cell receptor (TR) genes has operated successfully and has …

6/6 📄 Read the full commentary:
“Challenges for the Immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene nomenclatures in the modern genomics era”
👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
✍️ By Andrew Collins, @cdubsig.bsky.social, Luc Teyton, Henk-Jan van den Ham, Elisa Rosati, @yanasafonova.bsky.social

1/6 🧬 NEW COMMENTARY 🧬
Let’s talk about the challenges in immunoglobulin (IG) & T cell receptor (TR) gene nomenclature in the era of modern genomics.
A 🧵 on why it’s time to rethink how we name these genes—and what it means for immunogenetics.
#IGTR #Genomics #Immunology

Challenges for the Immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene nomenclatures in the modern genomics era Antibodies were at the forefront of protein and gene research in the 1970s and 1980s [1–3]. At that time, every report of a new antibody gene or even a partial antibody gene was eagerly awaited, and s...

An overview of the future of IG and TR gene nomenclature www.immunoinformaticsjournal.com/article/S266...

@yanasafonova.bsky.social @elisarosix.bsky.social

A major KI initiative to recruit new assistant professors with outstanding proposals in all areas of medicine, biomedicine and public health. We offer an amazing research environment, great colleagues and generous startup packages. Check it out and get working on your applications! (repost please!)

@guryaari.bsky.social giving awesome overview of ML approaches for AIRR-seq data - FOCiS 2025
@airr-community.bsky.social

@ayeletperes.bsky.social providing excellent overview of AIRR-seq tools at FOCiS 2025
@airr-community.bsky.social