HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee
Committee standardizing unique names and symbols for human genes.
The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) is a committee of the Human Genome Organisation that sets standards for human gene nomenclature. It approves a unique name and symbol for every known human gene, based on expert consultation. The symbol functions as a second unique name, not merely an abbreviation.
Quick Facts
- Scope
- Gene nomenclature
- Organism
- Human
- Center
- EMBL-EBI, UK
- Citation
- Braschi et al. (2019)
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Full gene names and symbols are often not specific to a single gene; for example, CAP can refer to any of six different genes.
- HGNC short gene symbols are assigned to one gene only, which can result in less common abbreviations but reduces confusion.
- When assigning new nomenclature, HGNC contacts authors who have published on the human gene and coordinates with mouse and rat genomic nomenclature committees.
Naming guidelines
The HGNC published its latest human gene naming guidelines in 2020. Gene symbols must be unique, contain only Latin letters and Arabic numerals, and avoid punctuation or the letter 'G' for gene. Symbols must not reference the species, such as 'H' for human. The committee states that nomenclature should evolve with new technology rather than be restrictive, and has issued guides for specific locus types like endogenous retroviral loci, structural variants, and non-coding RNAs.
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