acceleration of and the decreasing costs for the sequencing of the genes have resulted in more intensive research of both academic and commercial working groups. Current research topics particularly deal with forecasts on the course of diseases and therapy recommendations due to genetic dispositions and how these dispositions can be affected by agents (gene therapy). A special focus is often laid on the forecast regarding and therapy of genetically based autoimmune diseases, which include all diseases caused by an extreme reaction of the immune system against the body's own tissue. By mistake, the immune system recognizes the body's own tissue as a foreign object which is to be fought. This can result in serious inflammatory reactions which may permanently damage the respective organs. Autoimmune diseases, the outbreak and/or course of which can be visible in the individual genome of the organism, include multiple sclerosis, diabetes type I, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. As for multiple sclerosis, an article in the journal Nature dated May 2010 showed that this autoimmune disease is not caused by a genetic variation but the course and the treatability are considerably influenced by genetic dispositions. This research was based on analyzing three monovular pairs of twins, of which one twin has contracted multiple sclerosis whereas the other one has not. See also American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics European Federation for Immunogenetics Histocompatibility References External links IMGT, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system FAQ on autoimmune diseases by US Department for Health and Human Services Homepage of the National Genome association studies Medical genetics Branches of immunology