US geneticists are having big problems with data stored in Excel.
The problem, which can cause medically important genes to be hidden from view, is widespread, and has affected some public databases, including the gene expression data on the NCBI LocusLink database in the US, the researchers say.
Excel is widely used in genetic research to process microarray data. A microarray chip detects amounts of protein produced from thousands of different genes, enabling researchers to see which particular gene is being expressed in a sample of diseased tissue, for example.
The errors are introduced because some genetic identifiers look very like dates to Excel. If the spreadsheet is not properly set up, it will convert an identifier, such as SEPT2 to a date: 2-Sep. The conversion, the researchers say, is irreversible: once the error has been introduced, the original data is gone.
[…] “A little detective work traced the problem to default date format conversions and floating-point format conversions in the very useful Excel program package,” they write. “The date conversions affect at least 30 gene names; the floating-point conversions affect at least 2,000 if Riken identifiers are included.”
While BoingBoing points to this as an example of the craziness-which-is-Excel’s-Autocorrect, fact is that’s only part of it. Is using the wrong tool the responsibilty of the tool or of tool-user? Using a spreadsheet as a database is always a sketchy proposition, and I daresay that most people find it convenient that they can just type in a partial date and have Excel recognize it as such.
That folk have been storing info in Excel and haven’t noticed these kinds of problems before doesn’t speak well of the care with which they’re keeping their data.
Use a real database, folks.
(via The Register)