In this paper we reported the design and initial evaluation of the MAIC algorithm, and results of the first genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen of host factors required for replication of influenza virus. The paper was accepted 4 years after I travelled to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to perform a CRISPR screen, together with Bo Li in Nir Hacohen’s lab, because individual validation of the hits was technically challenging. The compeletely new dataset from the CRISPR screen provided a perfect test for the MAIC algorithm. We report a meta-analysis of published work, together with our new screen, in the most comprehensive assessment of host:pathogen interactions with influenza virus to date.