Previous research has shown that CD8+ T cells are primed primarily in the spleen following intravenous immunisation with malaria sporozoites (Lau et al,2014) and that liver lymphocytes form a front‐line defence against developing EEFs in hepatocytes (Guebre‐Xabier et al,1999; Fernandez‐Ruiz et al,2016). Here, CD8A is linked to malaria.