The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) is the worldwide authority that assigns standardised nomenclature to human genes. The HGNC approves both a short-form abbreviation known as a gene symbol, and also a longer and more descriptive name. They also record synonyms (other symbols and names by which a gene has been alternatively known in the literature or databases). More information about the HGNC can be found at http://www.genenames.org/. FlyBase uses approved HGNC symbols and names for human genes entries in FlyBase and displays all HGNC synonyms for these genes on the corresponding gene report page.