Lunatic fringe misidentified

Lunatic fringe misidentified ››: An utterly pathetic news story on Nature's site begins

"How would you feel if you were telling a patient they had lunatic fringe mutation?" asks Sue Povey, who chairs the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Committee. It's a rhetorical question: the answer is that no one should have to make such an announcement. And Povey's committee is renaming a number of genes that have potentially offensive or embarrassing names so that in the future no one will.

Apparently, names like sonic hedgehog and the rest are a problem.

"It struck me that if I were talking to a patient and telling them the problem is that they have a mutation in their lunatic fringe, that would be an inappropriate conversation we were having," [Mark Ludman, medical geneticist] says.

Aw, diddums. C'mon, that's pathetic! Also bonkers. Surely it's a joke article? Those gene names are dorky, sure enough. But if you break the news to a patient about their unfortunate genetic variation with such breathtaking brevity, you have a lousy bedside manner and the sensitivity of a carpenter's thumb. Oh I'm sorry, dying person, I'm too hung up on the oh-so-zany name I forgot to mention the diagnosis and the prognosis and that a rose by any other name …. Suppose a woman has an inborn error of metabolism - do these politically-correct smurfs check her husband isn't called Gene? Just to avoid another "inappropriate conversation" in which her inability to smell may get blamed on her unwittingly named husband? When a Mr Bell turns up with a problem with his VIIth facial nerve do they mutter and shuffle and apologise profusely on behalf of history?
Seems pretty clear to me where the lunatic fringe really is.; [Permalink…10-Nov-06…Deserving memes……Comments (0)]

Lunatic fringe misidentified

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