Be sure to look for these when editing!

• Commonly misspelled
  • “conformation” vs “confirmation”
    • Conformation is used to describe the 3D “pose” of a molecule (conformations can be interconverted without breaking any covalent bonds).
    • Confirmation is when you verify something.
    • Structural biology can provide confirmation that a protein is in a particular conformation.
  • “proteasome” not “proteosome”
    • I think this is because a proteasome is a “body” (“-some”) that acts as a protease (protein cutter).

• Commonly miscapitalized
  • “RNase” not “RNAse” (as well as DNase not DNAse)
    • If you think about what it’s short for, it makes more sense: RiboNuclease, not RiboNucleic Acidase. RNase is a nuclease, which is a distinct type of enzyme, one that hydrolyses (uses water to break down) nucleic acids. So, the RNase spelling is most appropriate. 
  • “western blot” not “Western blot”
    • Unlike “Southern blots,” named for Edwin Southern, western blots (also northern blots etc.) shouldn’t be capitalized as they aren’t proper nouns, but rather a play on words given Southern blots 

• Commonly confused and/or misused:
  • Terminal vs terminus
    • Use “terminus” as a noun (e.g. N-terminus, C-terminus) and “terminal” as an adjective (The N-terminal region of a protein contains the N-terminus).
  • Homolog vs. analog
    • Homologs are genes/proteins that look &/or act similar because they share an evolutionary origin.
    • Analogs are genes/proteins that look &/or act similar but do not share an evolutionary origin. They can arise due to convergent evolution – different evolutionary paths stumble upon similar useful things.
  • Homology vs identity vs similarity
    • Homology is a yes/no: sequences either share a common evolutionary ancestry (are homologous) or they don’t* 
    • “Percent homology” is often used incorrectly to refer to sequence similarity. How similar two sequences are can be expressed as:
      • Percent identity: % of identical residues OR 
      • Percent similarity: % of biochemically-similar residues (e.g. substituting one positively-charged amino acid for another one) 

More on homology and related terms: Homology terminology (homolog, ortholog, paralog) – plus sequence similarity and identity

Google doc version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1szwg6YWiv9sGcxayOayFECWkpehLKAL8mNghrzl4eVM/edit?usp=sharing