2598: Urchin & Hedgehog Jan 25, 2022

Sea urchins use an old word which by itself, would be obsolete. Likely, the word 'urchin' by itself would sooner conjure up images of poor Victorian children before it would a hedgehog, but that is what this once meant. The word is from the Old French dialect form 'irechon' from Latin 'ericius'. This led to Middle English 'yrchoun'. The spikes of a sea urchin give it this name, but hedgehogs have provided the name for military formations involving circles of outward facing spears just as well. It is unclear where the Victorian slang is from.

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.