Article content continued(The original DOPEY gene, DOPEY1, expresses a “domain protein” first found in yeast. There were other changes, but the one that got everybody’s attention and even created a minor stir on Twitter involved … Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet software on which the world, from finance and accounting to research and engineering, is not-so-secretly run. Excel, in the tradition of Microsoft products, is designed for the naive user. The point is that old gene names like DEC2 and OCT11 and SEPT9 were causing very serious harm to scientific research. Young researchers might receive advice about the dangers of Excel in scientific applications, but most probably don’t.

Source: National Post August 07, 2020 13:17 UTC