In humans, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the autophagy-related protein 16-like 1 (atg16l1) gene have been linked with increased susceptibility to Crohn’s disease (Hampe et al., 2007; Rioux et al., 2007), while Mice lacking Atg16L1 in hematopoietic cells are more susceptible to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis (Saitoh et al., 2008). This evidence concerns the gene ATG16L1 and colitis.