Fetuses carrying the SFTPD rs721917 Met11 allele have been associated with spontaneous preterm birth (235), and an initial genetic association of SP-D with pulmonary outcomes in premature infants was suggested by the observations that 2-marker SP-D/SP-A haplotypes including the Met11 allelic SP-D variant were protective against the development of RDS (306) and harmful in BPD (232), respectively. The gene discussed is SFTPD; the disease is newborn respiratory distress syndrome.