Comments on: Those Wild and Crazy Geneticists http://www.arsmathematica.net/2006/11/10/those-wild-and-crazy-geneticists/ Dedicated to the mathematical arts. Fri, 29 May 2015 09:17:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.41 By: plw http://www.arsmathematica.net/2006/11/10/those-wild-and-crazy-geneticists/#comment-1492 Mon, 13 Nov 2006 02:24:18 +0000 http://www.arsmathematica.net/archives/2006/11/10/those-wild-and-crazy-geneticists/#comment-1492 Sadly, or perhaps happily, it now seems like we won’t be stuck hearing these names for the rest of our lives. As reported in Nature 444, 136 (9 November 2006):
“Genes with whimsical names that might cause offence to people carrying mutations in them will be rebranded, the committee that adjudicates on such matters has decided. Names such as lunatic fringe, radical fringe, Sonic hedgehog and Indian hedgehog will no longer be used to refer to human genes.

A survey by the Gene Nomenclature Committee of the Human Genome Organisation, based at University College London, came up with ten genes that have “inappropriate, demeaning and pejorative” names, many of which are linked to eponymous developmental defects. Most genes on the list were initially discovered in fruitflies, for which geneticists have a tradition of coming up with jokey names. The human versions will now be known simply by their abbreviations.”

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