The risks of using unapproved gene symbols

Bryony Braschi; Ruth L Seal; Susan Tweedie; Tamsin E M Jones; Elspeth A Bruford

doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.09.004

The risks of using unapproved gene symbols

Am J Hum Genet. 2021 Oct 7;108(10):1813-1816. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.09.004.

Authors

Bryony Braschi¹, Ruth L Seal², Susan Tweedie¹, Tamsin E M Jones¹, Elspeth A Bruford³

Affiliations

¹ HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, UK.
² HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, UK; Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge CB2 0PT, UK.
³ HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, UK; Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge CB2 0PT, UK. Electronic address: elspeth@genenames.org.

Abstract

The use of approved nomenclature in publications is vital to enable effective scientific communication and is particularly crucial when discussing genes of clinical relevance. Here, we discuss several examples of cases where the failure of researchers to use a HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)-approved symbol in publications has led to confusion between unrelated human genes in the literature. We also inform authors of the steps they can take to ensure that they use approved nomenclature in their manuscripts and discuss how referencing HGNC IDs can remove ambiguity when referring to genes that have previously been published with confusing alias symbols.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Databases, Genetic / standards*
Genes / genetics*
Genome, Human*
Genomics
Humans
Research Personnel / standards*
Terminology as Topic*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding