The development of infections may be attributed to the fundamental operation of ECMO, in which blood is exposed to the non-endothelialised surface of the ECMO circuit, leading to widespread activation of the innate immune system and triggering the production of various cytokines (e.g., tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 6, interleukin 8) (Millar et al., 2016). The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is infection.