Further support for PTBP1's contribution to chimeric RNA generation and the COVID-19 patient phenotype comes from the induction of IFN signaling in CD34-derived erythroid cells upon PTBP1 knockdown, a phenomenon that appears to coincide with the presence of OS/TS chimeric transcripts in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.5 Here, PTBP1 is linked to COVID-19.