ABO and infection: Interestingly, it lies close to the ABO gene and was reported as an expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) for the gene in whole blood (P = 3.6 × 10–34), GTEx Browser, accessed on October 2nd 2019 (GTEx Consortium 2013), which is of particular interest, since connections between blood groups and infections have been observed previously, and the expression of blood groups is connected to the maturation of the gastrointestinal microbiome (Cooling 2015).