 When people talk about this problem of defining a gene there's some hand-ringing that goes on about oh my gosh The whole science of genetics is in trouble. Not at all We all kind of know how to work around that because what's in our mind is not just a word GNE it's a diagram of a stretch of DNA with a lot of complex components to it and any given Conversation with somebody else who's working in that space. You have no trouble communicating with each other It's only when you try to do the Webster's dictionary thing that you get in trouble