a gene of interest or an interested gene

[Kwanmor]

I am confused as to whether there is any difference between
a gene of interest and an interested gene

Thank you very much
Kwanmor :?

[Mister Micawber]

Well, the second makes no sense at all. 'An interesting gene' would be roughly equivalent to 'a gene of interest'.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Kwanmor]

Thanks a lot Micawber,

The reason I am confused because I saw the phrase "interested gene" used in a Journal article as follows:

A smaller plasmid, for cloning the interested gene, contains the right part of Ad35 genomic DNA sequence. The interested gene is inserted in the deleted E3 region in Ad35 vector.
This is published in
Molecular Therapy (2005) 11, S345|[ndash]|S345; doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2005.07.434

So, if I want to talk about the gene that I am interested in, how do say?. The gene of my interest or my interesting gene?

Thank you very much
Kwanmor

[Mister Micawber]

It is odd at best. Who are the authors?
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Topaze]

That's an interesting question (no pun intended). :)

'Interested gene' - this makes little sense, unless it's a term I'm not familiar with. I'd use it only with the prefix self and only to refer to the concept of the selfish gene (a quite popular theory of evolution).

'Interesting gene' - well, that means exactly what it says. An interesting (peculiar, fascinating, remarkable, noteworthy etc.) gene.

'Gene of interest' - now, this is a bit different. When used in scientific publications, it usually means a particular gene that interests the researchers, i.e. 'gene being studied', 'gene under examination' or 'gene in question'. The words 'interesting gene' cannot be used in this context.