A disease—or gene—by any other name would cause a stink

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Biomedically speaking, what’s in a name? A lot, as it turns out. In August, an international team working in India unveiled their discovery of a
gene encoding an enzyme that confers resistance to a broad range of antibiotics among a family of pathogenic bacteria (Lancet Infect. Dis. 10,
597–602, 2010). There was widespread consternation that a new superbug was going to lead to incurable infections across the globe, and
an equal amount of distress was voiced by the Indian government over the scientists’ decision to call the encoded protein ‘New Delhi metallo-
β-lactamase-1’ (NDM-1), in honor of the city where the enzyme was first identified. Members of the Indian Parliament denounced the name
choice as “malicious propaganda,” according to news reports, and the Indian health ministry disputed the scientists’ assertion that the gene
variant originated in India and Pakistan.