Editorial overview: Special section: Immunological engineering.

Immunology has traditionally embraced new technologies as a means of driving the field forward, from the early developments of monoclonal antibody technology, to the advent of flow cytometry, to the recent inventions of powerful mass spectrometry-based cellular analysis tools. However, in the last 10–15 years, the field has also become home to a growing number of interdisciplinary scientists bringing to bear a unique mindset and new approaches to problems in immunology and immunotherapy rooted in engineering, leading to exciting advances in basic science and new approaches to vaccines and immunotherapies. Engineers excel at creating model systems that break complex problems down into manageable hurdles, and drawing on applied chemistry, physics, and mathematics to create de novo technologies that solve practical problems. This is a mindset and not necessarily a discipline, and the papers in this issue of Current Opinion in Immunology present recent updates on a range of promising approaches to ‘Immune Engineering’ from leading biologists, immunologists, chemical and electrical engineers, and bioengineers. Seen from this perspective, the term ‘engineering’ must be applied loosely, but the collection of articles in this volume provides a snapshot of the widely different approaches that could be aptly captured under this term.