Whilst canonical HIF pathway activation was observed in lung fibroblasts under hypoxic conditions, elevated levels of HIF1α and HIF2α in IPF fibroblasts under normoxic conditions have recently been reported (Aquino-Gálvez et al., 2019), suggesting a pseudohypoxic state that is a state in which cells express, at least some, hypoxia-associated genes and proteins, regardless of the oxygen status (Russell et al., 2017). The gene discussed is HIF1A; the disease is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.