Cracking Open The Black Box Of Autoimmune Disease

Science Daily — Autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, lupus 
and rheumatoid arthritis occur when the immune system fails to 
regulate itself. But researchers have not known precisely where the 
molecular breakdowns responsible for such failures occur. Now, a team 
of scientists from the Whitehead Institute and the Dana-Farber Cancer 
Institute have identified a key set of genes that lie at the core of 
autoimmune disease, findings that may help scientists develop new 
methods for manipulating immune system activity.