Sonic Hedgehog

So on tuesday I was taught about the hedgehog genes, so named as when they were being studied in fruit flies absence of this gene caused the growth of spines. The first two are named after real species of hedgehog (Indian and desert), but the third was named by Gilbert in Developmental Biology after Sonic the Hedgehog. Very funny for developmental biologists, but imagine telling some parents that their child has died due to a defect in the sonic hedgehog gene (it's pretty fatal)! Actually, I think it's worth it. Science needs some humour sometimes.