Flutterby™! : Change gene names so they can keep using Excel

Shadow reminded me: Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates

Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates

Help has arrived, though, in the form of the scientific body in charge of standardizing the names of genes, the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee, or HGNC. This week, the HGNC published new guidelines for gene naming, including for “symbols that affect data handling and retrieval.” From now on, they say, human genes and the proteins they expressed will be named with one eye on Excel’s auto-formatting. That means the symbol MARCH1 has now become MARCHF1, while SEPT1 has become SEPTIN1, and so on. A record of old symbols and names will be stored by HGNC to avoid confusion in the future. </blockquiote>

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