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. 2020 Aug;52(8):754-758.
doi: 10.1038/s41588-020-0669-3.

Guidelines for human gene nomenclature

Elspeth A Bruford  1   2 , Bryony Braschi  3 , Paul Denny  3 , Tamsin E M Jones  3 , Ruth L Seal  3   4 , Susan Tweedie  3
Affiliations

Guidelines for human gene nomenclature

Elspeth A Bruford et al. Nat Genet. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Standardized gene naming is crucial for effective communication about genes, and as genomics becomes increasingly important in healthcare, the need for a consistent language for human genes becomes ever more vital. Here we present the current HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) guidelines for naming not only protein-coding but also RNA genes and pseudogenes, and outline the changes in approach and ethos that have resulted from the discoveries of the last few decades.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
The HGNC has a systematic process for naming long non-coding (lnc)RNA genes. In the absence of suitable published information, lncRNA genes are named based on genomic context. Abbreviations are as follows: HG: host gene, PC: protein-coding, DT: divergent transcript (used for lncRNA genes that share a promoter with a PC gene), IT: intronic transcript, OT: overlapping transcript, AS: antisense RNA, LINC: long intergenic non-protein coding RNA.
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