Since deregulation of the mtDNA-cGAS-MITA/STING pathway causes aberrant innate immune and inflammatory responses and pathological effects, great efforts have been made to identify strategies for selective modulation of the cGAS-MITA/STING axis in various diseases, and these strategies include identification of agonists of the cGAS-MITA/STING axis to use as vaccine adjuvants or as anticancer and antiviral immunostimulatory agents, as well as identification of selective inhibitors of the axis to use as potential drugs for treating inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. This evidence concerns the gene STING1 and autoimmune disease.