HGNC: The Why and How of Standardised Gene Nomenclature

Abstract

AbstractThe HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) aims to approve a unique gene symbol and gene name for every human gene. Standardisation of gene symbols is necessary to allow researchers and curators to refer to the same gene without ambiguity. Consistent use of gene symbols in publications and across different websites makes it easy for researchers to find all relevant information for a particular gene and facilitates data mining and retrieval. For each gene that we name we curate relevant information including symbol aliases, chromosomal location, locus type, sequence accessions and links to relevant databases. Therefore, our website is a central resource for human genetics. We endeavour to approve gene symbols that are acceptable to researchers to encourage widespread use of our symbols. In order to achieve this, we contact researchers that work on particular genes for advice before approving symbols and allow researchers to submit gene symbols to us directly for our consideration. We attend conferences to discuss difficult nomenclature matters and to gain community agreement. We interact with annotators of genes and proteins to provide symbols and names that accurately reflect the nature of each gene and its products. We also work with the gene nomenclature committees for other organisms, and aim to approve equivalent gene symbols for orthologous genes in human and other vertebrate species, especially mouse and rat. We will demonstrate the steps that are required to name a gene, and will show how and where the nomenclature of a particular gene is used. We will also explain the nature of our collaborations with particular journals and other databases in striving to achieve the use of a common gene nomenclature by all.