Re: How ancient whales lost their legs, got sleek and conquered the oceans

>
> Thanks to those who explained the origins of some gene names. A
> follow-up:
> Is there any group in the genetics community that makes such names
> "official," as there is in astronomy with asteroids, Kuiper belt objects
> &c
> or in chemistry/physics with chemical elements? Discoverers in those
> fields
> generally have the right to give names but sometimes there are disputes &
> some names probably would be unacceptable. I think there'd be a problem
> with naming an asteroid "Hitler" or a new element (which there are not
> likely to be many more of) "Stalinium" - not to mention names that many
> would consider obscene, blasphemous, &c.

I don't know the details for gene names; based on literature usage there
seem to be official names but limited direction on what to do when gene xyz
from organism A is recognized as being the same as gene kjh from organism
B.

Family, genus, and species names do have official regulations of that sort,
including prohibitions on the sorts of names you mention. E.g., Jumala was
rejected for a snail because it's Finnish for God. On the other hand,
plenty of pagan deities are genera (Moloch is a spiny lizard, Venus and
Astarte are clams, Aphrodite is a worm, etc.), and there is a calcareous
nannofossil with the species name swastika, which accurately describes part
of its appearance under a light microscope. (There's a problematic example
of specified complexity!)

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"