2589: Genes Named from Hedgehogs Jan 15, 2022

In addition to the sonic hedgehog gene, there are a number of others in the same family with other notable naming references. Before 'sonic hedgehog' was named there were the 'desert hedgehog' and 'Indian hedgehog' genes, named after real species of hedgehog. A variant form in some fish is named 'tiggywinkle hedgehog' from Beatrix Potter's character.

2588: Cyclopamine and Sonic Hedgehog Jan 14, 2022

In 1957 farmers in Idaho reported their lambs were born cycloptic. After over a decade, the chemical found corn lily when ingested by the pregnant ewes was shown to cause this, then named 'cyclopamine'. This chemical compound has many more medical effects than cyclopia, and is indeed significant for many cancer treatments. As humorous as the naming of a chemical compound after a Greek mythical monster, it's function in the body is to stop the sonic hedgehog signal during development. This name, as is perhaps more obvious, was named for the videogame character.

2337: get, nascent, and a word family of birth May 12, 2021

The words 'beget' and 'nascent' both relate to birth (as of course do a great many other words) but these can be proven to be related by a common root. The word 'get' is related to a root *ghend- meaning 'to take; to grab; to hold' is also related to *ǵenh₁- and *gene- both meaning 'to give birth' or 'produce' leading to the Latin gnāscor (hence 'nascent') and 'get' along with 'generate' and all its derivatives, also 'gene', 'genealogy', 'pregnant', ‘beget‘, 'kind', 'naive', 'indigenous', 'gonad', and so many more.