Guidelines for human gene nomenclature were first published in 1979 [1], when the Human
Gene Nomenclature Committee was first given the authority to approve and implement
human gene names and symbols. Updates of these guidelines were published in 1987 [2],
1995 [3], and 1997 [4]. With the recent publications of the complete human genome
sequence there is an estimated total of 26,000–40,000 genes, as suggested by the
International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium [5] and Venter et al.[6]. Thus, the …