List of unusual biological names

The trouble with unusual names has not been lost on scientists when needing to explain genetic diseases to lay-people.[1] This has particularly been noted in patients with a defect in the sonic hedgehog gene pathway and the disease formerly named CATCH22 for "cardiac anomaly, T-cell deficit, clefting and hypocalcaemia for chromosome 22q11.2 microdeletions". This name was abandoned due to the no-win connotations.[2]

In 1993, a researcher at the University of Cambridge was ordered to change the name of the gene he had discovered, VELCRO, because of copyright issues with Velcro.[3] The gene was re-named to puckered.[4] In 2005, Pokémon threatened to sue the discoverer of POKEMON because the name was attracting attention when its link to the development of cancer was published.[3]

Genes and proteins

In the early discovery days of genomics, genes were often given creative names upon discovery. Although a nomenclature committee has now been formed, several of these names remain.[5]

Name	Explanation	Biological role
Bag-of-marbles
Buttonhead
Cheap date[6]	mutations in this gene cause marked susceptibility to alcohol intoxication
Deadpan
DIABLO	Direct IAP binding protein, low
Dreadlocks	mutations in this gene cause cell projections to clump together like dreadlocks	murine ortholog of Nck
Dunce	a memory-related gene	a memory-related gene associated with Rutabaga
ELMO	Engulfment and Cell Motility	contains the family ELMO1, ELMO2, and ELMO3
Exuperantia	named after St. Exuperantia who was beheaded	a gene associated with dividing the head and body into regions
Fizzy-related
Flippase	a protein that "flips" phosphatidylserines on the inner side of the cell membrane
Floppase	a protein that "flops" phosphatidylserines on the outer side of the cell membrane
Hedgehog signaling pathway, and the associated genes: Sonic hedgehog (and formerly associated with tiggywinkle hedgehog) Desert hedgehog Indian hedgehog Smoothened Frizzled Patched	named for the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog	critical gene involved in development and tumorigenesis
Headcase[7]
Hunchback
Indy	short for I'm not dead yet
Ken and Barbie[8]		drosophila gene
Lunatic Fringe, Manic Fringe, and Radical Fringe
MAP kinase kinase kinase and MAP kinase kinase kinase kinase
Mothers against decapentaplegic 1-9, and the associated Daughters against dpp[9]	Takes the name from "Mothers against drunk driving" and similar campaigns	Mutations in the gene of the mother cause improper development in the offspring
NEMO	NF-kappa-B essential modulator
Methuselah-like proteins	named for Methuselah, extends the lifespan of an organism
POKEMON	POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor, changed to Zbtb7 after a lawsuit was threatened[10]
Pikachurin
Salvador
Scramblase	an enzyme that "scrambles" phospholipids between the inside and outside of the cell membrane
Slingshot homolog
Slit-Robo and the associated Netrin-Frazzled
SMURF1 and SMURF2, which interacts with Mothers against decapentaplegic 7	SMAD Ubiquitination Regulatory Factor 1/2
SPOCK1	Zebrafish with this mutation develop pointed-ears reminiscent of Spock
Swiss cheese[11]	mutations cause the brain to develop with lesions resembling Swiss cheese
Tafazzin	Named after the masochistic Italian comic character Tafazzi after alleged hardships in its discovery
Tinman gene	named for the tinman, required for proper development of the heart

Molecules

• Moronic acid, a natural triterpene
• Traumatic acid, a monounsaturated dicarboxylic acid naturally occurring in plants

Species

See also: List of organisms named after famous people

• Aerodactylus, a disputed pterosaur genus named for the Pokémon Aerodactyl.
• Midichloria, a genus of Gram-negative, non spore-forming bacteria, is derived from the midi-chlorians, a symbiotic, microscopic life form described in the fictional Star Wars universe.[12]
• Spongiforma squarepantsii, a fungus species from Malaysia named after the Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants from the show of the same name.
• Yoda purpurata, a species of acorn worm from the North Atlantic ocean, was named after the fictional character Yoda from the Star Wars franchise.[13][14] It is the only known hermaphroditic member within the phylum.[15]

Techniques

• Chromatin Interaction Analysis by Paired-End Tag Sequencing (ChIA-PET) is a technique to determine chromatin interactions which shares a name with Chia Pets.

See also

• List of chemical compounds with unusual names

References

1. Hopkin, Michael (2006). "Troublesome gene names get the boot". News@nature. doi:10.1038/news061106-2.
2. MacLean, Ken (2006). "Humour of gene names lost in translation to patients". Nature. 439 (7074): 266. Bibcode:2006Natur.439..266M. doi:10.1038/439266d. PMID 16421543.
3. Simonite, Tom (2005). "Pokémon blocks gene name". Nature. 438 (7070): 897. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..897S. doi:10.1038/438897a. PMID 16355177.
4. "puc puckered [ Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) ]".
5. https://psmag.com/sonic-hedgehog-dicer-and-the-problem-with-naming-genes-113c58df8f7a%5B%5D
6. Moore, Monica S; Dezazzo, Jim; Luk, Alvin Y; Tully, Tim; Singh, Carol M; Heberlein, Ulrike (1998). "Ethanol Intoxication in Drosophila: Genetic and Pharmacological Evidence for Regulation by the cAMP Signaling Pathway". Cell. 93 (6): 997–1007. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81205-2. PMID 9635429.
7. http://www.sdbonline.org/sites/fly/dbzhnsky/headcse1.htm%5B%5D
8. Lukacsovich, Tamas; Yuge, Kazuya; Awano, Wakae; Asztalos, Zoltan; Kondo, Shunzo; Juni, Naoto; Yamamoto, Daisuke (2003). "Theken and barbie gene encoding a putative transcription factor with a BTB domain and three zinc finger motifs functions in terminalia development of Drosophila". Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology. 54 (2): 77–94. doi:10.1002/arch.10105. PMID 14518006.
9. http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0020493.html%5B%5D
10. Brendan Sinclair (2005-12-19). "Pokémon USA threatens to sue cancer researchers". GameSpot. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
11. Kretzschmar, D; Hasan, G; Sharma, S; Heisenberg, M; Benzer, S (1997). "The swiss cheese mutant causes glial hyperwrapping and brain degeneration in Drosophila". The Journal of Neuroscience. 17 (19): 7425–32. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-19-07425.1997. PMC 6573436. PMID 9295388.
12. Sassera, D; Beninati, T; Bandi, C; Bouman, EA; Sacchi, L; Fabbi, M; Lo, N (November 2006). "'Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii', an endosymbiont of the tick Ixodes ricinus with a unique intramitochondrial lifestyle". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 56 (Pt 11): 2535–40. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.64386-0. PMID 17082386.
13. Newly Discovered Acorn Worm Named After Yoda Archived 2013-02-10 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2012-10-06 18:05 UTC
14. Priede, Imants G.; Osborn, Karen J.; Gebruk, Andrey V.; Jones, Dan; Shale, David; Rogacheva, Antonina; Holland, Nicholas D. (2012). "Observations on torquaratorid acorn worms (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta) from the North Atlantic with descriptions of a new genus and three new species" (PDF). Invertebrate Biology. 131 (3): 244–257. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7410.2012.00266.x. ISSN 1077-8306.
15. Priede, Imants G. (2012). "Observations on torquaratorid acorn worms (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta) from the North Atlantic with descriptions of a new genus and three new species" (PDF). Invertebrate Biology. 131 (3): 244–257. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7410.2012.00266.x.