Augmenting adaptive immunity: progress and challenges in the quantitative engineering and analysis of adaptive immune receptor repertoires

The adaptive immune system is a natural diagnostic and therapeutic. It recognizes threats earlier than clinical symptoms manifest and neutralizes antigen with exquisite specificity. Recognition specificity and broad reactivity is enabled via adaptive B- and T-cell receptors: the immune receptor repertoire. The human immune system, however, is not omnipotent. Our natural defense system sometimes loses the battle to parasites and microbes and even turns against us in the case of cancer, autoimmune...