Immunogenetics Immunogenetics Immunogenetics or immungenetics is the branch of medical genetics that explores the relationship between the immune system and genetics. Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, are complex genetic traits which result from defects in the immune system. Identification of genes defining the immune defects may identify new target genes for therapeutic approaches. Alternatively, genetic variations can also help to define the immunological pathway leading to disease. Its origin is usually attributed to Edward Jenner, who discovered in 1796 that cowpox, or vaccinia, induced protection against human smallpox. It took two centuries before the World Health Organization announced in
Robert Francis Jenner of 18. On 10 August 1824 Jenner married Elizabeth Lascelles (died 29 September 1850), eldest daughter of Sir Herbert Jenner-Fust, Dean of Arches. She was his double first cousin. They had ten sons and five daughters. One of the daughters, Emma, wrote of her mother: "She always thought the year wasted if there was not a new baby born." Jenner resided in Wenvoe Castle, and was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Glamorgan. In 1828 he was appointed High Sheriff of Glamorgan. Jenner was patron of St Mary's Church in the village of Jenner. Robert Francis Jenner