IFNA1 and viral infectious disease: In the 1950s, in the course of their studies on the structures and properties of influenza A and other viruses, Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann discovered a soluble factor that was produced by virus-infected cells and could inhibit viral infection; they named this compound “interferon” (IFN) for its capacity to “interfere” with viral replication [1, 2].