Different human genes are now written differently. The organization that is responsible for the naming does this because the current spellings are too often incorrectly interpreted by Microsoft Excel.
The problem has been known for some time. Each gene has a name and a numeric code. But sometimes they look very much like a date, so they are interpreted as such in Excel. The result is that errors can arise in scientific research.
For example, the gene ‘Membrane Associated Ring-CH Finger 1’ is abbreviated as MARCH1. But Excel converts that to ‘March 1’ by default. This formatting is done automatically. It is possible to customize individual columns, but that can be reversed when someone else opens the table.
According to The Verge the renaming has been going on for a year and 27 human genes are currently being renamed, although the decision has only recently been formally announced by HGNC, the organization responsible for naming genes. MARCH1 thus becomes MARCHF1, SEPT1 becomes SEPTIN1 etc …
The Verge also contacted Microsoft, but no comments were made there. Although it is not so much a battle between Microsoft and science. For example, a scientist nuances the site that the incorrect interpretation of Excel only affects a limited group, compared to a large number of users who do benefit from automatic formatting of dates.
For example, genes have also been subject to new rules in the past, so that the abbreviation of genes can no longer resemble names or words, and only Latin letters and Arabic numbers can be used.
The problem has been known for some time. Each gene has a name and a numeric code. But sometimes they look very much like a date, so they are interpreted as such in Excel. The result is that errors can occur in scientific research, such as the gene ‘Membrane Associated Ring-CH Finger 1’, which is abbreviated as MARCH1. But Excel converts that to ‘March 1’ by default. This formatting is done automatically. It is possible to customize individual columns, but that can be reversed when someone else opens the table.According to The Verge, the renaming has been going on for a year and currently 27 human genes have been renamed, though the decision has only now been formally announced by HGNC, the organization responsible for naming genes. For example, MARCH1 will now become MARCHF1, SEPT1 will become SEPTIN1 etc … The Verge also contacted Microsoft, but they did not comment there. Although it is not so much a battle between Microsoft and science. For example, a scientist nuances the site that the misinterpretation of Excel affects only a limited group, compared to a large proportion of users who do benefit from automatic formatting of dates, such as genes that have already been subject to new rules in the past, so that the gene abbreviations should no longer resemble names or words, and only Latin letters and Arabic numbers should be used.
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