It'll Never Fly: When Gene Names Are TOO Fun

<p><em>A transcript for this episode is in progress.</em></p> <p><span>In 1910, a fruit fly geneticist named Thomas Hunt Morgan <a href="https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/sex-limited-inheritance-drosophila-1910-thomas-hunt-morgan">noticed something strange</a> in one of his specimens. Out of his many, many fruit flies—all with brilliant red eyes—a single fly had white eyes. This fruit fly turned out to be a very big deal. From those white eyes, Morgan eventually figured out that genes can be sex-linked, confirmed that genes exist on chromosomes, and won the Nobel prize.</span></p> <p><span>But he also cemented his legacy another way, with what he chose to <em>name</em> that gene:</span> “white.” It might sound uninspired, but it kicked off a tradition that decades later gave us names like <a href="https://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0003495.html">spatzle</a>, <a href="https://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0045852">hamlet</a>, and <a href="http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0011236.html">ken and barbie</a>. Here and there, a name went <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitless_(gene)#Name">too far</a>, but overall, fanciful names brought joy to researchers and worked well—until genes like these were discovered in humans, and everything went awry.</p> <p>Johanna and Senior Producer Elah Feder team up with Helen Zaltzman of The Allusionist to talk about fruit flies, genes, and whether it’s ok to name a gene after a German noodle.</p> <p>Plus, after much demand, we bring you... the origin of <em>defenestration</em>!</p> <h3>Guests: </h3> <p>Helen Zaltzman is the host of <a href="https://www.theallusionist.org/" target="_blank">The Allusionist</a>.</p> <h3>Credits:</h3> <p>Science Diction is produced by Johanna Mayer and Senior Producer Elah Feder. Our composer is Daniel Peterschmidt. Nadja Oertelt is our Chief Content Officer.</p>