Immune literacy: reading, writing and editing adaptive immunity

Abstract Advances in reading, writing and editing DNA are providing unprecedented insights into the complexity of immunological systems. This combination of systems and synthetic biology methods is enabling the quantitative and precise understanding of molecular recognition in adaptive immunity, thus providing a framework for reprogramming immune responses for translational medicine. In this review, we will highlight state-of-the-art methods such as immune repertoire sequencing, immunoinformatics and immunogenomic engineering and their application towards adaptive immunity. We showcase novel and interdisciplinary approaches that have the promise of transforming the design and breadth of molecular and cellular immunotherapies.