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Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 4:08 am ET
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Pokemon and Sonic Hedgehog Genes

By: Lei | 2 Comments
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Pokemon Emerald VersionKidneyNotes managed to scoop me on a recent gene-naming debacle. Scientists named a cancer-causing gene aka oncogene “Pokemon,” but had to change the name to a much more mundane Zbtb7 after Pokemon USA threatened to sue.

About ten years ago, scientists named another gene involved in embryonic development – Sonic Hedgehog after the video game character. They were not threatened with a lawsuit. Guess the manufacturer of the Sega Genesis video game is more supportive of science?

Via Grand Rounds at MedPundit.

NB: More on gene nomenclature in this week’s Saturday Genetics Quiz.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 4:08 am ET
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2 Comments

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  1. Genetics and Health » P[acman] Gene Insertion Technique
    1204 days ago

    [...] Pacman?! Next thing you know, they’ll want to name a gene after Pokemon or Sonice Hedgehog! [...]

  2. » Grand Rounds 2.13 – Thes Best of This Week’s MedBlogging Genetics and Health
    1550 days ago

    [...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ownsite. [...]

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