New word in Oxford English Dictionary credited to Jackson Laboratory scientist
| Date: June 3, 2008 | 
|
Bar Harbor, Maine -- "Genomics," a term that has gained widespread usage in the scientific community, is now in the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED's entry includes credit to Jackson Laboratory Professor Emeritus and Bar Harbor resident Thomas H. Roderick, Ph.D., for coining the term.
Every living thing--human, animal or plant--has a genome. A genome is all the genetic information in the chromosomes of an individual or, by extension, the individual's species (human, mouse, etc.). The word "genomics," according to the new OED entry, is "the scientific study of genomes...; the branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, and evolution of genomes."
The first usage identified by the OED was in an introductory essay in the premier issue of the aptly named journal Genomics. The listing quotes Genomics editors Victor A. McKusick, M.D., and Frank H. Ruddle, Ph.D.: "We are indebted to T.H. Roderick of The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, for suggesting the term."
According to Dr. Roderick, he proposed the term in 1986 while attending a scientific meeting with Drs. McKusick and Ruddle. "One evening, about 10 of us were at a raw bar, drinking beer and discussing possible titles for the new journal. We were on our second or third pitcher when I suggested 'genomics'. Little did we know then that it would become such a widely used term."
# # #
Contact(s): Joyce Peterson, 207-288-6058
For information on automatic email delivery of news releases (journalists only), please send an email request for details to news@jax.org.
Office of Public Information
The Jackson Laboratory
600 Main Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609-1500
Phone: 207-288-6051
Fax: 207-288-6076
Email: news@jax.org
