AID/APOBECs function in retroviral restriction and in the case of AID, in class-switch recombination and somatic hypermutation to generate antibody diversity by causing C-to-T mutations (Conticello, 2008), functions that do not explain the high-level expression of A3B in many cancers (Burns et al., 2013a, 2013b). The gene discussed is AICDA; the disease is cancer.