在20世纪70年代末，发现了粗制干扰素样品具有抗肿瘤活性。这一发现使干扰素成为癌症患者的“神奇药物”。包括东京、苏黎世和旧金山在内的许多团队试图鉴定人类干扰素cDNA。谷口忠次率先在1979年12月的《日本科学院院报B辑》上宣布克隆了人类干扰素-β cDNA。随后，苏黎世的一个小组克隆了人类干扰素-α，旧金山的一个Genentech小组克隆了干扰素-γ。重组干扰素蛋白已大规模生产，干扰素-α被广泛用于治疗C型肝炎患者。纯化的重组干扰素迅速阐明了干扰素的生物功能。利用克隆的染色体基因研究了病毒诱导的干扰素基因表达的分子机制。本文描述了导致干扰素基因克隆的背景以及其对细胞因子基因猎取的影响。

In the late 1970s, crude interferon samples were found to exhibit anti-tumour activity. This discovery led to the interferon as a "magic drug" for cancer patients. Many groups, including those in Tokyo, Zürich, and San Francisco, attempted to identify human interferon cDNAs. Tadatsugu Taniguchi was the first to announce the cloning of human interferon-β cDNA in the December 1979 issue of Proc. Jpn. Acad. Ser. B. This was followed by the cloning of human interferon-α by a Zürich group and interferon-γ by a group in Genentech in San Francisco. Recombinant interferon proteins were produced on a large scale, and interferon-α was widely used to treat C-type hepatitis patients. The biological functions of interferons were quickly elucidated with the purified recombinant interferons. The molecular mechanisms underlying virus-induced interferon gene expression were also examined using cloned chromosomal genes. The background that led to interferon gene cloning and its impact on cytokine gene hunting is described herein.