BBC Focus Magazine

by **Dash Lightning** » Jan 5th, '10, 15:58

Hey guys, been awhile! I like the changes to the forum!

I'm one semester into my medical degree, and one piece of terminology seems to keep popping up that I'm not sure I get.

I know genes code for proteins etc... We've been looking at the p53 guardian protein recently, and in a lot of literature its referred to as the p53 gene, and in others its the p53 protein. Does this mean that, generally, it's ok to refer to the genetic code of a protein as the proteins name? And if so, and you just see p53 used without gene or protein following it, can it be referring to either?

Thanks

by **M Paul Lloyd** » Jan 6th, '10, 00:09

Heloo Dash, good to have you back and glad you like the makeover. :mrgreen:

As to the rest..... I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.... sorry. :oops:

by **Esther** » Jan 6th, '10, 11:01

Well to me it would make sense to refer to the gene that codes for a protein by the name of the protein, followed by 'gene' or something, so p53 would mean the protein, and p53 gene would be the gene.

But then, just because it seems to make sense doesn't mean that it works like that in the literature.

We need to ask Bio!

Bio - where are you???????

by **Esther** » Jan 7th, '10, 19:52

I asked Bio, who's busy doing a genetics degree, and she checked it out and said that...

...it turns out that the p in p53 stands for 'protein' and that the protein is coded for by the gene TP53. So if you just saw p53 written down, it's referring to the protein. But generally, if you were to come across some similar looking code type thingys (for example: saxA+, npfK1, fusA2 etc.) then I'd always assume it was a gene unless it said otherwise.

I guess there's always a possiblity that medical texts would use a different convention to biology texts, so it might be worth checking with your tutor, especially before you start writing essays.

by **M Paul Lloyd** » Jan 8th, '10, 00:13

Medical people do tend to use a lot more Latin, in my somewhat limited experience.

by **Dash Lightning** » Jan 8th, '10, 11:45

So far we're using the same books!

Thanks esther and bio

by **Nails** » Jan 8th, '10, 11:56

As a gene and its protein are inextricably linked, the same terminology tends to be used for both.

The HUGO committe determines the specific name of each human gene, and each is given a name and and abreviation.

For more recent finds, some silly names are creeping in such as 'Sonic Hedgehog'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_hedgehog

Or the Pokemon gene:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbtb7

Anyway, to answer your question there is a little information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_nomenclature#Vertebrate_gene_and_protein_symbol_conventions

Basically, the name is the same but varies in capialisation between species for some reason.