The induction and release of S100A8/S100A9 have been shown to correlate very well with disease activity in many clinically relevant disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune diseases, infections, allograft rejection or chronic processes like atherosclerosis, which underlines the translational potential and high impact of our findings for future basic research as well as clinical applications3, 7, 12. The gene discussed is S100A9; the disease is infection.