In patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, increased levels of LDHA protein and lactate have been associated with reduced lung function (Judge et al., 2018), and gossypol, a terpenoid, has been studied for its potential to decrease the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) in lung fibroblast cells (Judge et al., 2017). The gene discussed is HIF1A; the disease is pulmonary fibrosis.