en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-letter_acronym
1 correction found
Three-letter acronyms were used as mnemonics in biological sciences, from 1977
This date is too late. Peer-reviewed literature traces biological-science use of three-letter-acronym nomenclature to 1973, not 1977.
Full reasoning
A later peer-reviewed survey in Nucleic Acids Research states that "Since 1973" restriction endonucleases and DNA methyltransferases "have been named based on an original suggestion by Smith and Nathans" and that the proposed names "should begin with a three-letter acronym." That is a biological-sciences use of three-letter-acronym nomenclature four years earlier than 1977.
The cited Smith & Nathans paper is a 1973 Journal of Molecular Biology article published on December 15, 1973. So the article's statement that biological-science use begins "from 1977" is contradicted by the published record.
This correction is only about the date: the evidence shows documented biological-science use by 1973.
2 sources
- SURVEY AND SUMMARY: A nomenclature for restriction enzymes, DNA methyltransferases, homing endonucleases and their genes - PMC
Since 1973, REases and DNA methyltransferases (MTases) have been named based on an original suggestion by Smith and Nathans (3). They proposed that the enzyme names should begin with a three-letter acronym...
- A Suggested nomenclature for bacterial host modification and restriction systems and their enzymes - Johns Hopkins University
Smith, H. O., & Nathans, D. (1973). A Suggested nomenclature for bacterial host modification and restriction systems and their enzymes. Journal of molecular biology, 81(3), 419-423... State Published - Dec 15 1973.