Zbtb7
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Zbtb7, originally named Pokemon, is a gene that may act as a master switch for cancer. The leader of the research team which discovered this, geneticist Pier Paolo Pandolfi from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, said the gene is unique in that it is needed for other oncogenes to cause cancer.<ref>Jai A. Dennison. "Switching Off 'Pokemon' Gene May Block Cancer-Cell Formation", Daily News Central, 2005-01-20. Retrieved on 2006-06-27.</ref> Discovery of the gene was first published in the January 2005 issue of Nature.<ref>Takahiro Maeda, Robin M. Hobbs, et al. (2005-01-20). "Role of the proto-oncogene Pokemon in cellular transformation and ARF repression". Nature (433): 278-285. DOI:10.1038/nature03203. Retrieved on 2006-06-27.</ref>
The original name, Pokemon, stands for "POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor" and is most likely a backronym of the Pokémon media franchise. Nintendo subsidiary Pokémon USA, not wanting the bad press inherent with its trademark sharing a name with a cancer-causing gene, threatened the center with legal action in December 2005, at which point MSKCC decided to rename it as Zbtb7.<ref>Brendan Sinclair (2005-12-19). Pokemon USA threatens to sue cancer researchers. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2006-06-27.</ref>
[edit] See also
- Sonic hedgehog, a protein named for a video game character
[edit] References
<references/>
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