>It has been noted that mention of a mutation in a sonic hedgehog gene might not be well received in a discussion of a serious disorder with a patient or their family.

Imaging being told by a doctor that you have sonic the hedgehog disorder.

Mutations in this genes cause a birth defects called holoprosencephaly that is usually so severe you'd be telling the parents, not the patient :(

I think there was a small movement to have it renamed, but I don't know if it went anywhere or still exists.

"I'm sorry, but your son has Sanic's[1] Disease."

[1] https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sanic-hegehog

Pretty much all of the proteins that were discovered in fruit flies and have a human ortholog have funny names: frizzled, wingless, piwi, nubbin, etc etc

The gene which, when mutated, makes flies more sensitive to alcohol is called cheapdate.

> The gene mutated in ‘cheapdate’ flies is actually called ‘amnesiac’, named because amnesiac mutant flies originally showed deficits in memory tests [1] I thought it was a joke but apparently not. TIL —- Not the best source but... [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/04/06/inside-the-res...