Long life requires individuals to defend themselves against pathogens over prolonged
periods of time whilst minimising damage to themselves. In vertebrates, pathogen defence is …

A fundamental challenge faced by the immune system is to discriminate contexts meriting
activation from contexts in which activation would be harmful. Selection pressures on this …

At first glance, longevity and immunity appear to be different traits that have not much in
common except the fact that the immune system promotes survival upon pathogenic …

Immune defenses have been suggested to play an important role in mediating life history
trade-offs. Detecting and understanding such trade-offs, however, is complicated by the …

Immunity is an essential function for host homeostasis through its action on the control of
pathogenic organisms and malignant cells. Immune defenses also require a finely-tuned …

Human genes governing innate immunity provide a valuable tool for the study of the
selective pressure imposed by microorganisms on host genomes. A comprehensive …

The extreme diversity of the human immune system, forged and maintained throughout
evolutionary history, provides a potent defense against opportunistic pathogens. At the same …

Highlights•Immune functions are strongly targeted by natural selection in the human
genome.•Long-term balancing selection can preserve immune diversity across species.• …

Pathogen-imposed selection pressures have been paramount during human evolution.
Detecting such selection signatures in ancient and modern human genomes can thus help …

Immunosenescence is a series of age-related changes that affect the immune system and,
with time, lead to increased vulnerability to infectious diseases. This Review addresses …