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by bglazer
16 days ago
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Gene names aren't really acronyms in the traditional sense. Often they were originally conceived as acronyms at the time of the gene's discovery and naming, but the original acronym frequently reflects an incomplete or factually wrong understanding of the gene. For example, TP53 is a very very important gene in cancer. TP53 originally meant Tumor Protein 53, where the 53 signified its molecular weight of 53 kilodaltons. The problem is that the experiment used to measure TP53's molecular weight was incorrect and TP53 actually weighs about 44 kilodaltons. Oops, now we're stuck with TP53 for eternity. There are a ton more examples of this. So, in biology a gene's name is sometimes an acronym but it's meaning is generally forgotten |
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