Zbtb7

Zbtb7, originally named Pokemon, is a gene that may act as a master switch for cancer, and is responsible for the evolution of cancer. Clarifyme 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. [cite news |author = Jai A. Dennison |url = http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/000316/31/ |title = Switching Off 'Pokemon' Gene May Block Cancer-Cell Formation |publisher = Daily News Central |date = 2005-01-20 |accessdate = 2006-06-27] Discovery of the gene was first published in the January 2005 issue of "Nature". [cite journal | author = Takahiro Maeda, Robin M. Hobbs, et al. | date = 2005-01-20 | title = Role of the proto-oncogene Pokemon in cellular transformation and ARF repression | journal = Nature | issue = 433 | pages = 278–285 | doi = 10.1038/nature03203 | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v433/n7023/abs/nature03203_fs.html | format = | accessdate = 2006-06-27 | volume = 433]

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. [cite web | url = http://www.gamespot.com/news/6141487.html | title = Pokemon USA threatens to sue cancer researchers | accessdate = 2006-06-27 | author = Brendan Sinclair | date = 2005-12-19 | publisher = GameSpot]

=Genes=
* ZBTB7A
* ZBTB7B
* ZBTB7C

ee also

*Sonic hedgehog, a protein that is named after a video game character.
*Pikachurin, a retinal protein named after a Pokémon character.

References