The end of the ‘Cheap Date’
Some of you may have already seen this article on npr.
To summarize briefly, geneticist like to give the genes they work on funny names. It not only makes the genes easier to remember and talk about, but serves to humanize the researchers. Imagine talking to someone going on and on about LFNG O- fucosylpeptide 3-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. Now imagine that same person talking about “Lunatic Fringe”. Which conversation would you rather be part of?
Of course the problem comes when some of these gene names become insensitive. “Cheap date” refers to a gene that increases susceptibility to alcohol. “Kenny” (named for the South Park character) refers to a gene that causes fruit flies to spontaneously die after a few days. They’re pretty funny, but as a patient, do you really want to be told that you have a defective “Ken and Barbie” locus, giving you poorly developed genitals?
Here are some of the names on the chopping block (from the article):
Stranded At Second: A fruit fly that dies, usually in the second larval stage of development.
Agoraphobic: A fruit fly with larvae that look normal but never crawl out of the egg shell.
Groucho Marx: A fruit fly that produces an excess of facial bristles.
Cheap Date: A fruit fly that expresses high sensitivity to alcohol.
Out Cold: A fruit fly that loses coordination when the temperature drops.
Kenny: A fruit fly without this gene dies in two days, named for the South Park character who dies in each episode.
Ken and Barbie: Fruit flies that fail to develop external genitalia.
I’m Not Dead Yet (INDY): These fruit flies live longer than usual. This is from the Monty Python movie The Holy Grail, where a guy pushing a wheelbarrow calls out, “Bring out your dead,” only to discover that one corpse is well enough to shout out, “I’m not dead yet!” over and over.
Now, of course these are fruit fly genes. And, as my officemate just pointed out, Drosophila isn’t a fruit fly, but has been called fruit fly so much in the literature that it would be impossible to change it’s name now. Once the genes are dumped in the literature, the name will stick. Some of the genes will appear in humans and some will cause disease. I would be incredibly disheartened to be diagnosed with a terminal disease only to find out the my defective gene is called Groucho Marx. I’m ok with keeping the casual names in the lab and out of the literature.
~Southern Fried Scientist
UPDATE: It appears that hurting people’s feelings isn’t the only problem with casual gene names.
David is a graduate student in South Carolina studying shark conservation. He is the author of the upcoming book “Why Sharks Matter: Using New Environmentalism to Show The Economic And Ecological Importance of Sharks, The Threats They Face, and How You Can Help”. His time is divided between educating the public about sharks, spending days at a time at sea playing with sharks, and eating horribly unhealthy foods. Follow him on Twitter @WhySharksMatter.
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Your mom is diagnosed with a terminal disease only to find out that the defective gene is called Groucho Marx… wait, that’s a horrible thing to say. I take it back.
Interesting post, I never really thought about the emotional impact all those goofy little names could have.
I really enjoyed this one. I think my ex has the defective cheap date gene. ha ha ha.
Great post!
One of my favorites is “krueppel”, which according to a German colleague is a very derogatory term for “cripple.”
Too bad most of these genes get renamed in mammals. I would have loved to hear of a human being told they have a “decapentaplegic” mutation (bone morphogenetic protein – BMP – in people). Or perhaps in “MAD” or “mothers against decapentaplegic.”
I think it is a pity attempting to change these names in order not to hurt people’s feelings. I do not want to sound cruel, but Drosophila nomenclature is one of the best, most fun things in science. I think it is as cruel to force a scientist who literally lives in the lab to name his/her newly discovered gene (after years and years of hard work) something like 28JDA2-a instead of “Ken and Barbie”.
I learned what those genes do much better because you can relate the name to something.
And maybe I am that scientist who will find how to regenerate an amputated limb, but you just wanna make my job less fun. Come on! :)
Actually there are some weird hold-overs in mammals too…although that is being weeded out for the very reasons mentioned in this post.
For example: A random mutagenesis screen in mice produced a mutant who’s phenotype was underdeveloped sex organs in male mice. Until the gene is identified, there needs to be a name for the mutant line. Officially, they get alpha-numerical nonsense names but in a huge mouse colony with hundreds of mutant lines it’s easier to refer to something more memorable. So this mutant line was dubbed “wee willie”. Heh.
Fast-forward a few years and the gene has been identified. Turns out that one of the major genetic lesions responsible for human sex reversal phenotypes is a hit in this very gene. Sweet! Until the researcher presents the “wee willie” mouse at a conference. The researcher is told by clinicians that he has to rename the mouse or they will name the syndrome after the researcher himself.