Identification of a Functional Allele of a Human Interferon-α Gene Previously Characterized as a Pseudogene

Three recombinant phage λL47 clones containing 4α interferon (IFN) genes have been isolated from a newly constructed human genomic library. Each gene is an allele of a previously described IFN gene, three being only minor variants. The fourth gene SMTIII.1A is a functional allele of the ψLeIF-L gene which previously has been described only as a pseudogene. Therefore, it appears likely that other variant alleles may remain to be described and that the IFN system may be able to tolerate some degeneracy as a consequence of the large number of members of the family.