Badomics words and the power and peril of the ome-meme
- PMID: 23587201
- PMCID: PMC3617454
- DOI: 10.1186/2047-217X-1-6
Badomics words and the power and peril of the ome-meme
Abstract
Languages and cultures, like organisms, are constantly evolving. Words, like genes, can come and go-spreading around or going extinct. Here I discuss the spread of one small subset of words that are meant to convey "comprehensiveness" in some way: the "omes" and other words derived from "genome" or "genomics." I focus on a bad aspect of this spread the use of what I refer to as "badomics" words. I discuss why these should be considered bad and how to distinguish badomics words from good ones.
Figures
References
-
- Winkler HL. Verbreitung und Ursache der Parthenogenesis im Pflanzen- und Tierreiche. Verlag Fischer, Jena; 1920.
-
- The Biodiversity Heritage Library. Verbreitung und Ursache der Parthenogenesis im Pflanzen- und Tierreiche / von Dr. Hans Winkler. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/1460.
-
- Lederberg J, McCraw AT. 'Ome sweet 'omics– a genealogical treasury of words. Scientist. 2001;15(7):8.
-
- Gorman J. ‘Ome,’ the Sound of the Scientific Universe Expanding. Times, New York; 2012. May 3, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/science/it-started-with-genome-omes-pr....
