Guidelines for human gene nomenclature.

Guidelines for human gene nomenclature were first published in 1979 [1], when the Human Gene Nomenclature Committee was first given the authority to approve and implement human gene names and symbols. Updates of these guidelines were published in 1987 [2], 1995 [3], and 1997 [4]. With the recent publications of the complete human genome sequence there is an estimated total of 26,000–40,000 genes, as suggested by the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium [5] and Venter et al. [6]. Thus, the guidelines (http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/nomenclature/ guidelines.html) have been updated to accommodate their application to this wealth of information, although gene symbols are still only assigned when required for communication. These updates were derived with input from the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) International Advisory Committee and attendees of the ASHG01NW Gene Nomenclature Workshop. All approved human gene symbols can be found in the Genew database [7]. The philosophy of the HGNC remains “that gene nomenclature should evolve with new technology rather than be restrictive as sometimes occurs when historical and single gene nomenclature systems are applied” [2]. A summary of the guidelines is presented here: 1. Each approved gene symbol must be unique. 2. Symbols are short-form representations (or abbreviations) of the descriptive gene name. 3. Symbols should only contain Latin letters and Arabic numerals. 4. Symbols should not contain punctuation. 5. Symbols should not end in “G” for gene. 6. Symbols do not contain any reference to species, for example, “H/h” for human.