Abstract

The World Health Organization convened in Geneva from 5 to 10 December 1966 a Scientific Group on Standardization of Procedures for the Study of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase(1) (EC 1.1.1.49; D-glucose-6-phosphate: NAPD oxidoreductase; G6PD). Variants of this enzyme have attracted international attention both as causes of various haemolytic disorders and as useful genetic markers in man. In the course of the meeting the variants of this enzyme thus far described were extensively reviewed. There was unanimous agreement that a consistent system of nomenclature would be desirable, and that as G6PD variants were only one example of similar polymorphisms in man, a nomenclature should be devised which might conceivably be applied to other enzymes.The Group included the following recommendations on nomenclature in its report, which will be published in full in World Health Organization: Technical Report Series, 1967, 366.