Muddled genetic terms miss and mess the message

Abstract

A critical aspect of science is the clear communication of complicated matters. However, language is often ambiguous, and the message can get lost in the telling. In particular, genetic terms can have different meanings for different people. Here, I discuss this problem and suggest remedies to clarify the message.

Keywords: HGNC; HGVS nomenclature; Human Variome Project; Variation Ontology; clarity of presentation; genetic terms; muddled language; systematics.