Project Details:
Properties and units in Medical Molecular Biology
| Project No.: | 2001-068-1-700 |
| Start date: | 2002-01-01 |
| End date: | 2004-09-24 |
| Division: | Chemistry and Human Health Division |
For two decades, the C-NPU has authored recommendations on how to express and code examination results in various specialties of Laboratory Medicine as published in PAC and the Silver Book. This project will extend the principles to Medical Molecular Biology furnishing a basis for unambiguous international communication.
> See former Series on Properties and Units in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences
Research on genomics, which led to the elucidation of the complete structure of the human genome, has greatly increased the range of properties available to medical prac-titioners to help them in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. The increase in variety of properties examined is now such that the individual physician has insight in or understanding of only a limited number of the properties of-fered to him from the specialists in Molecular Biology. In the laboratory, local terms (jargon) used in describing laboratory results may be well understood among colleagues, but they are not appropriate for communication with the outside world. Likewise, a laboratory and its local community of users, such as hospital or community physicians, may use a "local dialect" of the language of clinical laboratory sciences that is well understood by all concerned, but when the communication possibilities are wider, even transnational, risks of serious misunderstanding arise. It is therefore essential to promote clear, unambiguous, meaningful and fully informative communication. The purpose of this project is to apply the IUPAC-IFCC recommended syntax structures for request and report, providing formats and names of properties observed in the domain of Medical Molecular Biology, to facilitate unequivocal written or electronic communication between health care professionals. Because no internationally accepted recommendations on the nomenclature of properties in Molecular Biology have been published, one additional purpose of this proj-ect is to advance the process of standardization of the nomenclature in this field. The project conforms to the IUPAC strategic goals 2 and 4 i.e. to promote standardized nomenclature, symbols, terminology and methodology in the chemical sciences as well as to facilitate the development of effective channels of communication in international chemistry community.
project completed - Part XVIII of the series on Properties and units in the clinical laboratory sciences is published as IUPAC Technical Report, Pure Appl. Chem. 76(9), 1799-1807, 2004