Recent data from our laboratory, for which appropriate IH NK cell controls were obtained for the first time from subjects who agreed to donate a liver tissue fragment during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, showed instead that ex vivo isolated IH NK cells from patients with chronic HCV infection displayed reduced degranulation ability compared to controls with apparently conserved NKG2D-mediated IFN-γ production. The gene discussed is IFNG; the disease is isolated hemihyperplasia.