Twenty-seven human genes have been renamed by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) in 2020 due to Excel misreading their symbols as dates.⁠ The revised guidelines for renaming genes, reported in Nature Genetics, now include altering "symbols that affect data handling and retrieval." This encompasses all genes with symbols that are autocorrected to dates, such as MARCH 1, which has been renamed MARCHF1, and SEPT1, which is now SEPTIN1.⁠ "It's really, really annoying," Dr. Dezső Módos, a systems biologist at the Quadram Institute, told The Verge. "It's a widespread tool, and if you are a bit computationally illiterate, you will use it."⁠ ⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ Each gene is assigned an alphanumeric code, known as a symbol, which enables standardized and consistent gene naming. With the increasing prevalence of genomics in health care and medicine, this has become essential for the effective communication of genetic information.⁠ ⁠ However, this auto-formatting is a default setting within Excel...