Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sonic the Brain Chemical

Posted by michael on from the need-more-rings dept.

GamerBub writes "A chemical protein that appears to prevent Parkinson's Disease has been named Sonic the Hedgehog. According to the National Post."

44 comments

  1. Just wait by BoomerSooner · · Score: 1

    I see a lawsuit coming. Why can't people come up with original names (I'm one to talk!)?

    1. Re:Just wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope they get sued. It is an original idea for naming a chemical. Can you name another chemical named after a video game character? It's also the stupidest idea I've ever heard for naming a chemical. I couldn't even read the article without thinking "morons" every time I read that name. Do they really think people will take them seriously if they try to hype it by giving it such a dumb name. I hope it's as good as they claim (doubtful), since I know people with PD.

  2. So now I'm wondering... by lightspawn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Did this story make the cut because of the science, or because of the video game reference?

    And what does SEGA have to say about the dilution of trademark/copyright infringement/etc?

    1. Re:So now I'm wondering... by Kris_J · · Score: 1

      Well, the screen isn't iridescent purple, so it must be science.

  3. Re:FP! W00t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You missed it dumbfuck.

  4. And in other news... by Aardpig · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...Slashdot is over six years behind Google. D'oh, guys, D'OH!

    --
    Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
    1. Re:And in other news... by GeorgeH · · Score: 1

      Impressive, considering Google just turned 5. PageRank and time travel, what can't they do?

      --
      Why can't I moderate something "Wrong" or at least "Grossly Misinformed"?
    2. Re:And in other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess you don't remember when Google purchased Dejanews. Please turn in your Slashdot account and join some Yahoo groups instead. :-)

    3. Re:And in other news... by Aardpig · · Score: 1

      Impressive, considering Google just turned 5. PageRank and time travel, what can't they do?

      Well, it appears that taking over DejaNews a couple of years ago was not beyond their capabilities...

      --
      Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
    4. Re:And in other news... by GeorgeH · · Score: 1

      Uhhh, that was supposed to be teh funny, I suppose next you'll be telling me that they can index pages that were put up on the Intarweb over 5 years ago. Supposing that, I suppose that I'll respond "balderdash!"

      --
      Why can't I moderate something "Wrong" or at least "Grossly Misinformed"?
    5. Re:And in other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I swear that this supports my view that two thirds
      of Nature and Science are wasted. Sonic Hedgehog
      has been in these frequently since the early 90s
      but no one but the microbiologists can read these
      articles.

      Those articles should be rewriten so that terms
      are defined, or they should apear in
      specialist journals with summaries of their import
      in Nature and Science. Now, those journals say
      they only want original research, but it really
      should be readable original research. If slashdot
      is only hearing about sonic hedgehog now (in the
      MB context) this shows that Nature and Science
      don't really have their trumpeted impact.

    6. Re:And in other news... by Shipud · · Score: 1

      Of course they should. And Linux Journal should explain in every issue what LDAP means, and Dr. Dobbs should explain what's the difference between the more legible text that comes after //, and the less legible one that reads like for (i=j=0;s[i] != '\0'; ++i) Point being: specialization is exclusive. Sorry. Re-explaining basic ideas in every scientific or technical paper is impossible. Nature & Science have actually done an excellent job on their sites and on paper in bringing the highlights in clear language. If you want to write a scientific report which is concise on the one hand, but contains enough results to be reproducible and critically read on the other, you need to use highly specific terms. These are not layman's journals, and their impact is calculated based on the number of times their articles have been cited by other specialists in other non-layman's journals. On a final note: "Microbiologists" are scientists dealing with microorganisms. last time I checked, Nature /Science also had Physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, and in the life sciences: neuroscience, endocrinology, cancer research, etc. etc. These articles are not read by everyone in the scientific community, nor by everyone in a single field.

      --
      /sdrawkcab si gis siht
  5. Why? by GuyMannDude · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does anyone know why the protein was named after Sonic? The linked article doesn't really give any indication why that name was picked.

    GMD

    --
    watch this
    1. Re:Why? by ag3n7 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The reason why the chemical is called Sonic Hedgehog has only a passing relation to the video game. One of the researchers was an avid video game fan and the chemical's precursors are actually: SoNiC. Hence the play on word, Sonic Hedgehog.

      Plus, it has to do with increasing the speed between synapse firings.

    2. Re:Why? by trompete · · Score: 1

      All this time I thought it was this little blue guy who was spinning really fast and trying to collect rings. I suppose they have to name the protein that causes the disease Mario or Luigi, Sonic's arch nemesis. *shakes fist*

      --
      More than enough BS
    3. Re:Why? by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I assume you were referring to Sonic's business archnemeses... Nintendo's mascot. /me imagines scene:

      Sonic: I hate Luigi soooo much!
      Lisa Simpson: No, you're from Sega: You hate Dr. Robotnik.
      Sonic: ...soooo much!

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    4. Re:Why? by genecutl · · Score: 2, Informative

      Despite what the story says, Sonic Hedgehog is an old gene. The origin of the name is that there was a gene first discovered in fruit flies which was named Hedgehog, presumably because flies missing the hedgehog gene reminded the researcher of a hedgehog. Since then, related genes have been found and given hedgehog-related names, like Desert Hedgehog and Sonic Hedgehog.

      Fly geneticists like to go for amusing names. For example, there is a gene responsible for development of the 7th cell of the fly ommatidium (the ommatidia are the individual facets of the comound eye). That gene was named "sevenless". Since then, related genes have been named "bride of sevenless" and "son of sevenless", to name just two.

    5. Re:Why? by Dros68 · · Score: 1

      A gene in fruit flies was named hedgehog. Genes in fruit flies are named after how they look as mutants (so the gene white was named for flies with white eyes). The hedgehog mutation causes fruit fly embryos to be hairy, so they look like little hedgehogs. Mammals have duplicate copies of most genes in animals like flies. So the multiple hedgehog genes have to have elaborations like "Indian hedgehog" and "Sonic hedgehog" to differentiate them. Since most genes involved in development were discovered in flies, get used to names like "faint little ball, tinman, shaggy, dunce" and other fun fly names.

    6. Re:Why? by DrJohno · · Score: 1

      I attended a talk on the Sonic hedgehog pathway last week, and the "SoNiC" explanation offered in the parent post has nothing to do with it. Fruit flies with a mutation in one gene have a hunched-over shape that makes them look like hedgehogs, so the gene was named "hedgehog". Research in mice and humans has revealed that there is actually a whole family of genes of this kind, and one of them was given the name "Sonic hedgehog" as a reference to the video game character.

      By the way -- Sonic hedgehog (or "Shh") is a protein, having nothing to do with the element nickel (Ni) or the non-existent chemical element "So". Carbon (C) is the basis of all proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and basically everything having to do with living things and polymers, but Shh has no special relation to it.

  6. The Pope has this disease. by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    Good news for the pope

    1. Re:The Pope has this disease. by Catskul · · Score: 1

      The pope also has colon cancer... so I think parkinsens is the least of his worries.

      --

      Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
  7. Why the name? by Strange+Ranger · · Score: 1

    "The scientists found that the subthalamic nucleus is hyperactive because there are insufficient amounts of Sonic Hedgehog to adequately control its activity. "

    It's hard to read this article without chuckling at the repeated insertion of the silly name into the medical jargon, but hey people, (researchers, journalists) if you're going to use such a ridiculous name, and use it repeatedly throughout the story....

    How about letting us in on the joke?

    --

    Operator, give me the number for 911!
  8. Whats so wrong... by maxinull · · Score: 3, Funny

    with putting a little bit of fun in science? I'm sure kids in high school biology would much rather learn about Sonic the Hedgehog and how he helps fight Parkinson's, rather than (insert boring sceintifc name here)!

    Though, when theres a Dr. Robotnic filling out perscriptions, then you can bust out the lawsuits.

    1. Re:Whats so wrong... by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 1

      Yeah. When I teach kids at my school I gave the numbers 1,2,3,... interesting names. So now they all say things like Mario+Kzooie=Rayman. Needless to say everyone in the class completely loves the subject and in a few years time they'll all be getting PhDs. Or maybe not.

      --
      Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
    2. Re:Whats so wrong... by marykatherine · · Score: 1

      agreed, i think part of the problem with school is that the teachers get so damn bored with teaching the same thing over and over again that they have no more enthusiasm for teaching, and they don't make the kids want to learn. none of my teachers have ever bothered to make things the slightest bit interesting. good thing i found my way into the real world! heh.

  9. Just be grateful... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

    ...that they didn't name it after the other Hedgehog, Ron Jeremy.

    *ewwwww*

  10. Re:In other, MORE IMPORTANT news... by Aardpig · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...which was covered by Slashdot yesterday. Once again, D'oh!

    --
    Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
  11. Ummmmmm?! by psyconaut · · Score: 1

    My neurologist is at Toronto Western (the hospital where this research was done)...and I just really, really cannot see this being true....based on their humourless bedside matter. But you never know ;-)

    Maybe the cure for cancer might be known as "Zelda"?

    -psy

  12. hmm by OwlofCreamCheese · · Score: 1

    sure... why not... well people always had 'knuckles' and its often said girls have tails...

    --
    -You're wasting your time. Alfador only likes me.
  13. I know... by Deanasc · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm desperately trying to discover a signalling link to violence that I'm going to call Grand Theft Auto.

    --
    I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
  14. Some more prior art... by Daarom... · · Score: 2, Informative
    Check out this publication.

    Gene versus protein, huh?

    --
    Daarom is geen reden...
  15. I love old news by Militant+Libertarian · · Score: 1

    My friend the pathologist told me about this at least a year ago... The way I remember it, they had too many hedgehog genes and so the scientist called the last one sonic. I do realize this is a protien, not a gene that they're talking about but I'm sure they're related :)

    --

    I fear nothing but my government. Vote Libertarian.
  16. This is 2 and a half years late. by azav · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sonic was mentioned on the 8th of March, 2001.

    And it's called Sonic Hedgehog, not Sonic THE Hedgehog.

    http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-03/U oC M-SHst-0803101.php

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    1. Re:This is 2 and a half years late. by azav · · Score: 1

      Actually, reports on the gene go back to Jan '97!

      more articles:

      http://search.eurekalert.org/e3/query.html?col=e v3 rel&ht=0&qp=&qs=&qc=ev3rel&pw=100%25&ws=0&la=&si=1 &fs=&qt=sonic%2Bhedgehog&ex=&rq=0&oq=&qm=0&ql=&st= 11&nh=10&lk=1&rf=1

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    2. Re:This is 2 and a half years late. by Elbelow · · Score: 1

      Actually, reports on the gene go back to Jan '97!

      The oldest reference I can find in the MedLine database is from 1993:

      "Sonic hedgehog, a member of a family of putative signaling molecules, is implicated in the regulation of CNS polarity."
      Cell. 1993 Dec 31;75(7):1417-30. "

  17. They have no idea by idiot900 · · Score: 1

    I'm an MD/PhD student, so I am exposed a fair amount to people involved in biology research. I get the impression that most of them have no idea what the name is from, which makes it really awesome.

  18. OOoooollddd by Tom7 · · Score: 1

    It's called "Sonic Hedgehog," and it's quite old. There are lots of things with funny names in biology, especially bacteriophage, which there are billions of in the world. Some "philatelist" programs do little more than catalog and name phage.

    Hey, there is even a mitochondrial protein named after my slashdot username: tom7.

  19. Covered by Reed Magazine in 1998. by djshiawase · · Score: 1

    A write-up on how this name came about, as well as what the Hedgehog family is all about, can be found in this February 1998 article:

    <A HREF="http://web.reed.edu/community/newsandpub/feb 1998/platika/2.html">http://web.reed.edu/community /newsandpub/feb1998/platika/1.html</A>

    (page 2 for the Sonic reference)

    --
    they made me do it
  20. Sonic the Head-Drug? by quinkin · · Score: 1
    Sonic the Head-Drug?

    Bloody scientists... so unimaginative.... :)

    Q.

    --
    Insert Signature Here
  21. Sonic Hedgehog name origin by fuzzylintman · · Score: 0
    I quote from From http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2001/20010309-soni c.html:
    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.
    For all you naysayers that don't think the name had anything to do with the video game... :)

    -mbray

  22. Why? by Channard · · Score: 1
    Does anyone know why the protein was named after Sonic? The linked article doesn't really give any indication why that name was picked.

    Because it has a nice *ring* to it? I look forward to Michael J Fox receiving his oscar for Back to the Future parts 4, 5 and 6 and thanking Sonic The Hedgehog for allowing him to return to his sterling acting career.