For example, although it is part of the first line of defense against virus infections, production of type 1 interferon (IFN), one of the key antiviral mediators, is blunted in patients infected with SARS-CoV, which is in contrast to the fact that high levels of type 1 IFN have been detected in patients infected with SARS-CoV (Acharya et al., 2020). Here, IFNA1 is linked to viral infectious disease.