Comments on: Bye Bye, Sonic Hedgehog

By: Greg Conteh

Greg Conteh — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:04:12 +0000

Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Many thanks.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:16:20 +0000

i think people are retards

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:46:21 +0000

I think that whoever finds it should get to name it whatever they want as long as its not blatantly offensive.

By: Relax and Have Fun » Blog Archive » Your Inner Fish

Relax and Have Fun » Blog Archive » Your Inner Fish — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:36:59 +0000

[...] book. Plus, everyone seems to be talking about Sonic Hedgehog these days (see here and here and here to start with) and Sonic’s background is explained within too. The book is a fast [...]

By: Jeff, a Sonic Hedgehog patient advocate

Jeff, a Sonic Hedgehog patient advocate — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:42:00 +0000

I belong to an organization of people with Gorlin Syndrome, or Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome, which stems from the sonic hedgehog mutation. We actually can identify much better with a friendly sounding name to a most severe chronic condition which includes oral keratocysts, medulloblastoma (pediatric brain tumor) and loads of invasive basal cell carcinomas. No one takes it lightly due the name of sonic hedgehog, but it makes it more human, more easily articulated for the layperson. Our Executive Director is a patient herself, with severe morbidity, however she has a collection of homemade hedgehogs, knit, carved etc., that she uses to teach the affected children about our condition. We fully support the hedgehog name for this mutation. We have a LIfe Support Network, and are proactive and supportive. Please don’t ding the name, empower it!

By: family portrait artist

family portrait artist — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:17:42 +0000

I’m afraid I didn’t listen much to my boring Genetics and Biology professors way back in college. That’s why I was really amazed upon seeing the photo of a developing embryo with the stained hedgehog. But one struck my mind – why was it called as such? Hedge because it acts as support. What about the hog? Surely scientists have this strange way of naming things.

By: Danny Coyle

Danny Coyle — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 05:04:02 +0000

I agree with Sue on this point. And besides, Sonic Hedgehog isn’t just a mutation. There is a lot of research going into it to make it possibly even speed up the production of stem cells in the brain! And ironicly, that fits our blue, spiky friend quite well!
I say let Sonic have his gene! And hey, maybe we’ll let Mario have one too…

By: Penguin Opportunity? - Asymptotia

Penguin Opportunity? - Asymptotia — Mon, 14 May 2007 18:40:00 +0000

[...] a silly name some postdoc cooked up over a pint late one evening…. pity though…. See here, for [...]

By: Sue Pattison

Sue Pattison — Wed, 02 May 2007 22:01:16 +0000

For the layman, the language of science, is obscure, unrecognisable, and beyond grasp. I think gene names like Sonic hedgehog, remind us and our patients, science is for everyone, it is human, and those who make discoveries are human as well. A little language everyone can understand, I think is helpful, we shoudl strive for more descriptive words in all our medicine, otherwsie we set ourselves up for elitism by language, when we should be breaking down barriers.

By: MedWatch:science marketing, weird gene names and top 10 tools for college students « ScienceRoll

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:33:43 +0000

[...] my Bye Bye, Sonic Hedgehog post, Philippe Campeau at OMMBID blog posted this: Should potentially offensive gene names be [...]

By: Attis

Attis — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 10:20:31 +0000

That just called into my mind an old story. Professor Corbató, the lead developer of the legendary MULTICS operating system said one of the reasons why MULTICS has been able to stay alive for more than 30 years was the policy to avoid funny names. On the contrary, the GNU and Linux community enjoys using these names. GNU still has a library called libiberty.so that would be linked into a program by the -Liberty switch. Technical fields always have had the tendency for puns and insider jokes, and getting deprived of them will also hurt people. Including me. I liked that name.

By: Darmok

Darmok — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 20:44:21 +0000

It should be possible to find a name which is easy to remember and also describes the gene’s function. I do believe that medicine should carry a certain degree of formality.

I’m sorry for those who look for joy in whimsical gene names, but perhaps they will be able to find alternate sources of joy.

By: ncurse

ncurse — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:59:21 +0000

You’re righ, but I think that usually they only talk about the malfunction, not the gene itself.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 09:51:34 +0000

This is ridiculous.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but your son has a mutation of the gene 1335424353243t545324324ddg.”

Is that somehow more comforting than

“I’m sorry, your son has a mutation of the gene ‘Sonic hedgehog.’”

If doctors are worried the patients aren’t going to take it well, why talk about which gene the mutation is on? Why not just refer to it as “Shh.” Or say “an important morphogen.” Or say “a defect in the Gli pathway.”

Buncha stuffed-shirted killjoys…

By: ncurse

ncurse — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 14:46:35 +0000

I must update my post with that sentence…

By: Darmok

Darmok — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:58:53 +0000

It’s about time. I always thought Sonic hedgehog was a ridiculously frivolous name for such an important gene. Some whimsicality is fine, but I also feel that there should be some respectability as well; as the Wikipedia article states, many “[call] it inappropriate that patients with ‘a serious illness or disability are told that they or their child have a mutation in a gene such as Sonic hedgehog.’”