Sonic the hedgehog is inside all of us (and no kidding)

For virtually all video game fans in the world, when we talk about Sonic the Hedgehog we refer to the mythical character created by SEGA and that served as his pet, which represents a blue hedgehog that is capable of running at high speeds. A classic that will last for years as one of the characters of most recognized video games worldwide

However, if we ask the question of what Sonic Hedgehog is in the scientific and medical world, they will probably tell us an unexpected answer: it is something that is within all of us. In the scientific world Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) is one of the three proteins of the hedgehog family

. It plays an essential role in the regulation of vertebrate organogenesis, such as brain organization.

SHH also plays an important role, for example, in separating the central eye in two.

If SHH is inhibited, the central eye does not separate resulting in the condition known as cyclopia.

Sonic the Hedgehog

The most curious thing is that the name of the gene and protein is not really directly related to the videogame – although with the character. The name was put by a British doctor named Robert Riddle, who relied on a Sonic comic that his 6-year-old daughter read to call him Sonic Hedgehog.