Frontiers in antiviral therapy and immunotherapy

Despite recent advances in the therapeutic control of immune function and viral infection, current therapies are often challenging to develop, expensive to deploy and readily select for resistance-conferring mutants. Shaped by the host-virus immunological ‘arms race’ and tempered in the forge of deep time, the biodiversity of our world is increasingly being harnessed for new biotechnologies and therapeutics. Simultaneously, a shift towards host-oriented antiviral therapies is currently underway. In this Clinical & Translational Immunology Special Feature, I outline a strategic vision integrating these themes to create a new generation of effective, economical and robust antiviral treatments and immunotherapies. Durable international cooperation over the coming decades is necessary to achieve this, so here I invite leading international experts to discuss frontiers in host-oriented therapies, methods for modulating immune gene expression and applications of recent genome sequencing technologies, including an emerging research field.