Strikingly, those genetic markers are located within chromosome 5q31; noticeably, the distance between D5S642 and the IL9 microsatellite was 3.7 cM, and the one between the IL9 microsatellite and D5S2017 was 6.7 cM, suggesting the existence of several distinct malaria resistance loci in this region. The gene discussed is IL9; the disease is malaria.