Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a troubling public health issue worldwide, characterized by airway obstruction and progressive lung inflammation secondary to the influx of proinflammatory cells (Labaki and Rosenberg 2020), accompanied by an increased production of proinflammatory factors including various inflammatory interleukins (ILs), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) (Barnes 2016). The gene discussed is MMP9; the disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.