Histoplasma capsulatum is a major human fungal pathogen on the global stage that causes disease in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals, albeit the risk for severe disease increases with compromised immunity (e.g., in patients with HIV infection or cancer as well as in individuals receiving steroids or tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α] blockers). The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is HIV infectious disease.