The critical nature of the IFN system in protecting humans against infection is exemplified by findings that some individuals with genetic defects in IFN pathway components can exhibit severe, or even fatal, viral diseases, particularly in the absence of pre‐existing humoral immunity, as may be the case in young infants or following infection with an antigenically novel pandemic virus (Zhang et al, 2020; Duncan et al, 2021; Stertz & Hale, 2021). This evidence concerns the gene IFNA1 and infection.