A recent publication by a research group around D. Payen sheds light on genetic factors associated with increased mortality risk in septic shock. Besides, environmental factors and comorbidities, genetic predisposition plays a key role in regulation of the host response to infection. By genome-wide association studies, several genes associated with death in patients with septic shock could be identified; Variations in key genes are thought to perturb relevant pathways and thus increase the risk of death in sepsis patients.