Markers / Gene
IFNL4
One position in this gene is readable from a home DNA test.
Interferon response in hepatitis C
rs12979860 · chr19:39,738,787 · C/T · evidence: established
This position predicted who would clear hepatitis C on interferon therapy better than any clinical factor. It is included partly as history: modern direct-acting antivirals cure almost everyone regardless of genotype, which is what real progress looks like.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | Favourable genotype |
| One copy | Intermediate |
| Two copies | Less favourable genotype |
| Ancestry group | T (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 66.9% | |
| American | 39.9% | |
| East Asian | 8.0% | |
| European | 30.9% | |
| South Asian | 23.3% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Where this gene fits
If you have taken a home DNA test, these positions are already in your file.
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