It's a Gene

Just learned this today -
Sonic hedgehog, is actually a gene essential for limb development.

"In all limbed vertebrates, Sonic hedgehog is required for normal limbs to develop beyond the knee and elbow joints."

And all along I thought it was just some fancy name that someone dreamt up one night, for some fancy speed demon of a cartoon character that goes by the same name. This is gonna seriously freak out those kids that grew up thinking Sonic hedgehog is Sonic the Hedgehog.

But then again I guess the use of the name for the cartoon character is not without basis, it does afterall revolved around the use of limbs and mobility, as well as a trigger (some gene called Hand2, I think) that gets Sonic hedgehog turned on for limb development. Then there's Sonic the Hedgehog (the cartoon) which follows pretty much the same principle, Sonic collects some jewel or coin thingy to triggers his hi-speed running powers. Betcha didn't know that.

From University of Florida & Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences