Thus, the CRP/ALB ratio may be useful for evaluating critically ill patients and may address the weaknesses in other major scoring systems (e.g., the simplified acute physiology score 3 [SAPS 3], Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [APACHE] score, and Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment [SOFA]), which are not capable of directly evaluating malnutrition among critically ill patients9,10. The gene discussed is ALB; the disease is nutritional deficiency disease.