Excel is messing with your genes
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Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates
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Microsoft Excel: 1 — Human Genetics: 0.
But its default settings were designed with more mundane applications in mind, so when a user inputs a gene’s alphanumeric symbol into a spreadsheet, like MARCH1 — short for “Membrane Associated Ring-CH-Type Finger 1” — Excel converts that into a date: 1-Mar
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HTH HAND
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@error
Woah, what black magic is that
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I did some googling, and found nothing but the standard set of tech clickbait sites. I'm not saying it's made up, but I'll wait for a more reputable source.
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@error said in Excel is messing with your genes:
So the real story here is that the "scientists" doing genetic research can't be bothered to properly format a spreadsheet.
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@error said in Excel is messing with your genes:
HTH HAND
Well... I do seem to remember that Excel will
helpfully change the format back for you if you enter something which looks like a number or looks like a date, no matter if the entire sheet was marked as Text earlier on.I think you need another option to disable it.
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@JBert Also if you start a cell with an apostrophe, it will force Excel to read the value you type in that cell as text.
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@JBert
If the format is General, it will "help". If you specify Text, it will not override that format.
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@izzion In 2007 and below, that request is always respected. In 2010 and up, it's a green-wavy warning with a quick-"fix" lightbulb. In some versions of 2016/2019, it's automatically "fixed" for you unless you catch it in the act and undo, even if you had manually set it to Text.
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@El_Heffe said in Excel is messing with your genes:
@error said in Excel is messing with your genes:
snip screenshot
So the real story here is that the english-speaking "scientists" doing genetic research can't be bothered to properly format a spreadsheet.
MARCH1 does not mean anything in my locale settings.
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@TwelveBaud said in Excel is messing with your genes:
@izzion In 2007 and below, that request is always respected. In 2010 and up, it's a green-wavy warning with a quick-"fix" lightbulb. In some versions of 2016/2019, it's automatically "fixed" for you unless you catch it in the act and undo, even if you had manually set it to Text.
Another reason why I still use Office 2003.
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This is what intelligence does. It recognizes patterns and applies patterns. Humans are like that too. (Except that humans have a few layers of poorly understood feedback loops which the machines lack. As of 2020.)
