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Bony fish and their decedents, including tetrapods, did not evolve from sharks, but a common ancestor of both.

Were that common ancestor alive today, it would likely be classified as a "shark"

it makes you look like unscientific amateurs.

Yes, scientists are far too serious to give something such a frivolous name.

Spurred on by your additional info, I poked around to find out more about shh. I took a look at a Sonic Hedgehog page at Davidson College. I was surprised to find out that shh gets its name from the video game character. "The first two homologues of hedgehog were named after species of hedgehog and the third was named after the video game character (Gilbert, 2000)."

A press release over at the University of Chicago Hospitals site elaborated: "Researchers found three different versions of the "hedgehog" gene but only two kinds of real hedgehogs, so they named the third gene after the cartoon character."

I know you said they named them after things in the hedgehog family, so I assumed there must be an actual "sonic hedgehog" to go along with the Indian and desert hedgehog. No less likely that the animal would have a crazy name than the protein, I figured. My ignorance shows once again...

And Halo-, looks like you had a point about biologists, physicists, and computer geeks assigning crazy names to things.

The name Sonic Hedgehog originated with a mutant fruit fly embryo that had cuticle all over its body. Researchers found three different versions of the "hedgehog" gene but only two kinds of real hedgehogs, so they named the third gene after the cartoon character.

-mbray

but in the case of HIV, for example, those variants are known to appear at a strinkingly high rate as a result of mutations. Any population will naturally include variants with unusual traits, but those variants do also change over time, and new ones come into being. Read this.

If you feel that the Advisor is guilty of unethical conduct (as I do) let his employer know about it here.
I'm sure the University is already painfully aware of this case, they should also be aware that the public is too.

This link, "University of Chicago professor and world's leading expert on the herpes simplex virus receives $50,000 Bristol- Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Infectious Disease Research", shows that the Professor has gained much monetarily as well as in prestige by stealing his student's work.

If you feel that the Advisor is guilty of unethical conduct (as I do) let his employer know about it here.
I'm sure the University is already painfully aware of this case, they should also be aware that the public is too.

This link, "University of Chicago professor and world's leading expert on the herpes simplex virus receives $50,000 Bristol- Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Infectious Disease Research", shows that the Professor has gained much monetarily as well as in prestige by stealing his student's work.