There's a protein called Pikachurin and an oncogene called Pokemon — and a paper about Pikachu
wavefnx · x · 2026-10-23
wavefnx shares real biology trivia: Pikachurin is a real protein linked to retinal ribbon synapses, and Pokemon (POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor) is a real proto-oncogene — later renamed Zbtb7 after Nintendo's objections. The attached image is a tongue-in-cheek 2020 paper, 'Expression of the pokemon gene and pikachurin protein in the pokémon pikachu,' authored by one Samuel Oak of Pallet Town's Okido Institute, which deadpan-quantifies both gene/protein expression levels in Pikachu itself.
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