A systematic review and meta-analysis involving 4659 hospitalized COVID-19 patients identified from 14 published studies (1 January 2020–24 April 2020) suggested that mortality was strongly associated with hypertension (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 2.1, 3.1), coronary heart disease (OR = 3.8, 95% CI: 2.1, 6.9) and diabetes (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.7, 2.3) and that levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, D-dimer, creatinine and alanine transaminase were higher and the level of albumin was lower among hospitalized COVID-19 patients who died versus those who survived [10]. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is COVID-19.