Prior to the discovery of its association with kidney disease, APOL1 had already been recognised for encoding the pore-forming serum protein Apolipoprotein L1, which inserts into trypanosome membranes and effectively lyses the Trypanosoma species that cause disease in animals (Vanhamme et al., 2003; Pérez-Morga et al., 2005; Molina-Portela et al., 2005; Thomson and Finkelstein, 2015; Vanwalleghem et al., 2015). This evidence concerns the gene APOL1 and kidney disorder.