Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Oct 14;52(18):10747-10753. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae764.
What do we mean when we say 'gene expression'? In the decades following Crick's 1958 central dogma of molecular biology, whereby genetic information flows from DNA (genes) to RNA (transcripts) to protein (products), we have learned a great deal about DNA, RNA, proteins, and the ensuing phenotypic changes. With the advent of high-throughput technologies (1990s), molecular biologists and computer scientists forged critical collaborations to understand the vast amount of data being generated, rapidly escalating gene expression research to the 'omics' level: entire sets of genes (genomes), transcribed RNAs (transcriptomes), and synthesized proteins (proteomes). However, some concessions came to be made for molecular biologists and computer scientists to understand each other-one of the most prevalent being the increasingly widespread use of 'gene' to mean 'RNAs originating from a DNA segment'. This loosening of terminology, we will argue, creates ambiguity and confusion. We propose guidelines to increase precision and clarity when communicating about gene expression, most notably to reserve 'gene' for the DNA template and 'transcript' for the RNA transcribed from that gene. Striving to use perspicuous terminology will promote rigorous gene expression science and accelerate discovery in this highly promising area of biology.
当我们说“基因表达”时，我们是什么意思？在克里克（Crick）1958 年提出分子生物学中心法则之后的几十年里，遗传信息从 DNA（基因）流向 RNA（转录物）再流向蛋白质（产物），我们对 DNA、RNA、蛋白质以及由此产生的表型变化有了很多了解。随着高通量技术（20 世纪 90 年代）的出现，分子生物学家和计算机科学家进行了至关重要的合作，以了解正在生成的大量数据，将基因表达研究迅速推向“组学”水平：整套基因（基因组）、转录的 RNA（转录组）和合成的蛋白质（蛋白质组）。然而，为了让分子生物学家和计算机科学家相互理解，人们不得不做出一些让步——其中最普遍的是越来越广泛地使用“基因”来表示“源自 DNA 片段的 RNA”。我们认为，这种术语的放宽造成了歧义与混淆。我们提出了一些指导方针，旨在提高在基因表达相关交流中提高精准度和清晰度，尤其是保留“基因”表示 DNA 模板，“转录物”表示从该基因转录而来的 RNA。努力使用清晰的术语将促进严谨的基因表达科学，并加速这一极具前景的生物学领域的发现。
