He next compared the gene signatures induced by the cytokine interferon alpha (IFNα) (an ‘early cytokine’ that may contribute to three key features of the histology of human islets in T1D, namely upregulation of HLA class I, induction of ER stress and apoptosis) against the signatures observed in FACS-purified human beta cells obtained from patients affected by T1D and then ‘mined’ the common genes detected against gene signatures induced by a panoply of drugs in other cell systems (Colli et al. 2020b). This evidence concerns the gene IFNA1 and type 1 diabetes mellitus.