IMGT, the international ImMunoGeneTics data system was created in 1989, by Marie-Paule Lefranc, at the Laboratoire d'ImmunoGénétique Moléculaire (LIGM) (Université Montpellier II and CNRS) at Montpellier, France, so as to standardize and manage the complexity of the immunogenetics data. Fifteen years later, IMGT is that the international reference in immunogenetics and immunoinformatics, and provides a top quality integrated knowledge resource, specialized within the immunoglobulins (IG) and T cell receptors (TR), major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of human and other vertebrates, and related proteins of the immune systems (RPI) of any species which belong to the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) and to the MHC superfamily (MhcSF). IMGT, the international ImMunoGeneTics data system consists of 5 databases, ten on-line tools and Web resources. The IMGT Scientific chart comprises the controlled vocabulary and therefore the annotation rules necessary for the immunogenetics data identification, description, classification and numbering and for knowledge management within the IMGT data system . Marie-Paule Lefranc, IMGT, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system: a uniform approach for immunogenetics and immunoinformatics.