?Sonic Hedgehog? Sounded Funny, at First

NY Times ^ | November 12, 2006 | JOHN SCHWARTZ

[neverdem]

Rename That Gene

“LUNATIC fringe,” “head case” and “one-eyed pinhead” might sound like insults from the schoolyard or talk radio. But these are actually examples of the kind of oddball names that scientists give to genes they discover.

The idea is to make the names unique and memorable — with so many genes being discovered and described, a little color helps scientists tell them apart. But the trouble comes when science is transmuted into medicine; what works in the lab may be jarring in the clinic.

The names are causing problems for doctors who have to counsel patients about genetic defects with names like “sonic hedgehog” and “mothers against decapentaplegia.”

“It’s a serious problem,” said Dr. Sue Povey, a professor of biology at University College London, and head of the genome nomenclature committee of the Human Genome Organization. Her group is renaming some of the most objectionable names, in some cases by requiring that they be referred to by their initials, to render them inoffensive. The move was first reported by the journal Nature.

Dr. Chris Doe, a professor of biology at the University of Oregon who specializes in the genetics of the fruit fly, or drosophila, noted that evolution is conservative: a gene that works in one creature is likely to be found in others, and so a version of a gene discovered in the fruit fly or zebra fish may well be found in humans.

Many of those genes were given weird names when first discovered. Scientists have come up with names for genes in fruit flies, for example, that may be mystifying (“faint sausage,” “fear of intimacy”), cute (“tribbles,” “groucho” and “smurf”), or macabre (“sex lethal” and “death executioner Bcl-2.”)

[neverdem]

Microscopic Silliness P.S. Enlarge the graphic to read it.

[Republican Wildcat]

Look out for Dr. Robotnik.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Here's a list of amusingly-named fruit fly genes:

http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/taxonomy/taxGene.html

[SteveMcKing]

Common names suffice in the real world, or even contrived nomenclatures within a single organization.

It's certainly annoying when geeks try to be cute. That goes for all situations.

[dr_lew]

I got interested in the Sonic Hedgehog gene when it was first talked about. There was a gene called "hedgehog" in fruit flies, because one of its alleles caused a bristly looking phenotype. Research on its function led to the concept of "homeoboxes" which are a gene involved in embryonic development. They are part of the machinery for duplicating multiple segments, and legs, and so on, and hence crucial for understanding the development process.

Then an analogue for this gene was found in mammals, and was hence named "sonic hedgehog", so there is a deep significance beneath the whimsy in this case. I believe, though, that they dropped this nomenclature in subsequent discussions of homeobox theory. As far as I know, the term is now historical.

[Herakles]

I found an Al Gore gene which oddly enough at one time occurred in a Jackass.

[Jubal Harshaw]

Her group is renaming some of the most objectionable names

Assuming that this article is accurate, I think that what it describes is just pathetic. It's a long standing tradition in science that someone early in the discovery/ invention process of a new item gets to name it. The entire genus of Rickettsia is named that way because Dr. Ricketts, who discovered that genus, decided that would be a good name for it (guess why). X-rays have that name because Roentgen decided to call them that. Historically, some committee, that had nothing valuable to contribute to the actual discovery or invention of an object, has not had a say in what those objects are called. It's one of the many meager incentives to be in science; you find or invent something, you get to name it.

Based on my reading of this article, it appears that Dr. Sue Povey is bothered by the names chosen for genes by people who actually did the work to find those genes. It also appears that Dr. Povey did not actually find those genes herself, or she would have already named them whatever she wanted to. If she wants to have soothing, comforting names for these genes, then maybe she should discover them herself, and name them whatever she wants. In my opinion, the same goes for any MD or patient who is disturbed by the name chosen by the discoverers of those genes.

[Beagle8U]

Can you imagine when a doctor has to explain to some liberal college prof. that his medical problem is being caused by his overactive "lunatic fringe" genes?...lol

[highimpact]

Excellent post.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[CarrotAndStick]

From the list...

superman - a flower-related gene in Arabidopsis.

kryptonite - a gene which supresses superman.

Hahhahaaa!

[neverdem]

It's certainly annoying when geeks try to be cute.

With the exponential explosion of new information, they need slick names to remember it all. That being said, do you think primary care docs have the time to explain the history to upset parents of kids with genetic defects?

[SteveMcKing]

They're so strict about naming standards... well this is going to ruin it. It will be no problem at all renaming things more appropriately.

If you screw yourself and lose a little credit - all because you wanted to be funny - then tough luck.

[Monkey King]

"Dr. Chris Doe, a professor of biology at the University of Oregon who specializes in the genetics of the fruit fly, or drosophila, noted that evolution is conservative ..."

Goodness. I thought Intelligent Design was conservative. Who knew?

[LexBaird]

I found an Al Gore gene which oddly enough at one time occurred in a Jackass.

Even more strange is that the same gene can be found in deciduous trees.

[upchuck]

sound like insults from the schoolyard or talk radio

I was headed towards a rant but then saw that this comes from the NYT. I'll save my rant for something worthwhile.

[Jubal Harshaw]

I am positive that the vast majority of parents of sick children never know anything more than the bare minimum about their children's disease, and sometimes not even that. The fact that a defective gene is named "sonic hedgehog" is going to be told to, or read about, by a tiny minority of only the most interested and motivated parents.

I hear the objections already: "If it was MY child, I would find out the name of the defective gene." Yeah, well, if you are intelligent and motivated enough to be reading and responding to a minor topic on a text-based political website, then you are not the average person, and, if you have kids, you are not the average parent.

That said, it's my guess that the few people who do find out the name of their kid's defective gene won't really care. Based on my (so far, fortunately incomplete) experience with death and illness, I have seen that, in the vast majority of people, it tends to straighten out priorities. I think that this whole "renaming" process, far from existing to benefit patients, likely exists only to stroke the egos of the academics who get off on using the government to impose their own will on others.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Now I'm a gene? Well, I've been called worse.

[neodad]

faint sausage

Well, since I have 5 kids, I don't have to worry about that, right?