If you support the IMGT nomenclature and advocate for IMGT's continued role in standardizing the naming of immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors, while providing a sequence reference repertoire of these genes and alleles and integrating the data into IMGT/GENE-DB, we invite you to sign the petition.

Your support is crucial for maintaining consistency, continuity, and authoritative standards in this field. We are making an effort to ensure that IMGT data are completely free, therefore If you adhere to these principles and you want IMGT to continue in this endeavor, please sign.

IMGT/GENE-DB: https://www.imgt.org/genedb/

IMGT reference directory releases: https://www.imgt.org/IMGT_vquest/data_releases 

IMGT nomenclature rules: https://www.imgt.org/IMGTScientificChart/Nomenclature/IMGTnomenclature.php

More detailed text below:

In the 1990s, IMGT became the international reference in immunogenetics by providing precise descriptions of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes at the genomic level according to established standards. One of the challenges of standardization was to formalize and create a centralized, unique nomenclature: the IMGT nomenclature.

The IMGT nomenclature for IG and TR genes was developed through consultation with the scientific community of that time, ensuring that each described gene had a unique name, ordered according to its position in the locus, and that the immunology community would accept and use this standard.

It is crucial for fundamental research and immunogenetics knowledge to accurately characterize IG and TR genes to locate and study their genomic environment.

A gene = A name = IMGT nomenclature

IMGT has committed to creating cross-reference tables between the IMGT nomenclature and various nomenclatures found in the literature to centralize this information.

Upon studying the issue, it became very clear that information related to the gene must be included in the gene’s name to allow unambiguous identification, which is key for comparative genomics, especially for closely related species over evolutionary time.

The required information includes:

Locus
- Gene type
- Subgroup/cluster/subclass
- Gene position
(without any reuse of gene names).

Furthermore, we consider the evolutionary context, the presence of conserved sequences between species, as well as UTR regions, which contribute to ensuring the accuracy and consistency of the nomenclature.

Strength of positional nomenclature:

- It is the only way to accurately characterize the alleles of a given gene.
- It is the only way to identify duplicated genes.
- It is essential for characterizing orphan genes that are not located in the main locus (orphans may be on the same chromosome but in a different locus).
- Information about gene location within the genome and locus organization are extremely useful for describing new haplotypes and for comparison purposes.
- Knowledge of gene location greatly aids in assembling new IG and TR loci, which remains a complex task.
- The organization and localization of IG and TR genes within a locus are crucial for evaluating the quality of an assembly.

All these points cannot be ignored or abandoned by immunologists: more and more clinical applications, for understanding immune disorders, establishing prognoses, and diagnosing conditions, rely on increasingly precise knowledge of IG and TR genes.

We are convinced that bypassing the importance of gene localization would lead to confusion. We want to maintain and evolve, where needed, the IMGT nomenclature for continuity and homogeneity in the field. 

IMGT has committed to creating cross-reference tables between its nomenclature and various nomenclatures found in the literature, aiming to centralize this information.

We are making an effort to ensure that IMGT data are completely free, therefore If you adhere to these principles and you want IMGT to continue in this endeavor, please sign.