Octopuses are a pretty incredible species, known for having 8 arms, being highly intelligent and being able to fit into just about any space.But now biologists say they have another superpower: they can edit their own genetic information at will.
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00:00Octopuses are a pretty incredible species, known for having eight arms, being highly
00:08intelligent and being able to fit into just about any space.
00:11But now biologists say they have another superpower.
00:14They can edit their own genetic information at will.
00:17Researchers say that when water temperatures drop, octopuses can edit their own RNA to
00:21be better suited to colder waters.
00:22Here's what marine biologist and lead researcher on the project, Joshua Rosenthal, had to say
00:27about it.
00:28RNA recoding gives organisms the option to express a diverse quiver of proteins, when
00:32and where they choose.
00:33In cephalopods, most of the recoding is for proteins that are really important for nervous
00:37system function.
00:38So the natural question is, are they using this to acclimate the changes in their physical
00:42environment?
00:43Most creatures' genetic information can change due to their environment undergoing
00:46changes as well.
00:47But those usually happen over the course of generations, happening via minute alterations
00:51that prepare a species better for that environment.
00:54But octopuses, along with their other cephalopod cousins, all seem to be able to do it on the
00:58fly, with the researchers finding that in just 20 hours, they could alter their own
01:01genetic code to adapt to a change in their environment.