Q. WHAT IS THE LOGIC IN NAMING HUMAN GENES? THE NUMBER-LETTER COMBINATIONS SEEM ABSTRACT AND HARD TO REMEMBER.

A. Standard gene names and symbols are combinations of function, history and expediency, said Chris Gunter, the associate director of research at the Marcus Autism Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Emory University School of Medicine.

“For many well-known genes, the names are long and descriptive, such as mitogen-activated protein kinase 1, or epidermal growth factor receptor,” said Dr. Gunter, a former member of the Human Genome Organization gene nomenclature committee. So “we give all human genes three-to-five-letter symbols for easier reference, resulting in MAPK1 and EGFR.”

The guidelines are detailed at genenames.org/hgnc-guidelines.

Genes that were discovered early or described first in other species generally have these more illustrative names, she said. The community of scientists that studies the fruit fly Drosophila is particularly known for colorful gene names. For example, when mutated, the “tinman” gene produces fly embryos that have no hearts.