In this regard, our functional experiments showed that PBMCs from carriers of the DAPK2rs11631973G allele had increased levels of IL1 β after stimulation with Staphylococcus aureus, which led to the hypothesis that the DAPK2 locus, known to be involved in modulating neutrophil and eosinophil function, might influence CRC risk through the upregulation of IL1 β production by granulocytes in response to components of the intestinal microbiota and, thereby, promote chronic inflammation. Here, DAPK2 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.