Finally, we sought to validate our hypothesis that ACE2 is upregulated in human epithelial cells during upper airway viral infections, which are known to induce a robust IFN response (Bailey et al., 2014, Everitt et al., 2012, Iwasaki and Pillai, 2014, Jewell et al., 2010, Russell et al., 2018, Steuerman et al., 2018). The gene discussed is ACE2; the disease is viral infectious disease.