Microsoft's Excel has been blamed for errors in academic papers on genomics
Researchers trying to raise awareness of the issue claim that the spreadsheet software automatically converts the names of certain genes into dates.Gene symbols like SEPT2 (Septin 2) were found to be altered to "September 2".
However, Microsoft, which released the first version of Excel in 1985, said the gene renaming errors can be overcome if users make alterations in the application settings.
"Excel is able to display data and text in many different ways. Default settings are intended to work in most day-to-day scenarios ...Excel offers a wide range of options, which customers with specific needs can use to change the way their data is represented." a spokeswoman for the corporation said.
The study also claimed that the Excel conversion problem was present in other spreadsheet software, such as Apache OpenOffice Calc.The systemic error was not, however, present in Google Sheets.