scverse / scverse/scanpy

dealing with duplicated gene symbols

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Python
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Description

Hi Scanpy team!

After facing the issue with duplicated gene symbols again for the n-th time, I realised that one of the best solutions for renaming duplicates would likely be to do the following 'DuplicatedName-ENSEMBL_ID' rather than just adding an order-dependent number 'DuplicatedName-1' that can differ between dataset from different papers - preventing correct matching when integrating datasets which in turn essentially requires deleting duplicated genes.

What do you think in general?

Would it be possible to add support for this with interface like var_names_make_unique(unique_column='ENSEMBL')?

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First steps

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Research direction

Start by locating the existing var_names_make_unique interface and reviewing how duplicated gene symbols and ENSEMBL identifiers are represented in integrated datasets. The issue names no files or tests; completion would require an agreed interface and deterministic naming behavior that can be checked across datasets.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
bioinformatics
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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