An overlapping gene is a gene that shares a nucleotide sequence with other genes. This type of gene is found in many organisms, including bacteria, viruses, and humans. Other synonyms for overlapping gene include embedded gene, nested gene, and gene overprinting. These genes can have important implications for the understanding of genetic evolution and molecular biology. Sometimes, overlapping genes can code for completely different proteins, while in other cases, they can code for different regions of the same protein. Although overlapping genes were once thought to be rare, advances in genome sequencing technology have revealed that they are more prevalent than previously believed.