CGAS and viral infectious disease: During viral infection, the innate immunity and inflammatory response are initiated by sensing the pathogenic components via pattern‐recognition receptors (PRRs) such as toll‐like receptors (TLRs), retinoic acid‐inducible gene I (RIG‐I)‐like receptors (RLRs), and the cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase (cGAS)/stimulator of IFN gene (STING) axis (Wu & Chen, 2014).