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.
00:00Octopuses are a pretty incredible species, known for having eight arms, being highly intelligent, and being able to fit into just about any space.
00:11But now biologists say they have another superpower. They can edit their own genetic information at will.
00:17Researchers say that when water temperatures drop, octopuses can edit their own RNA to be better suited to colder waters.
00:23Here's what marine biologist and lead researcher on the project, Joshua Rosenthal, had to say about it.
00:28RNA recoding gives organisms the option to express a diverse quiver of proteins, when and where they choose.
00:33In cephalopods, most of the recoding is for proteins that are really important for nervous system function.
00:38So the natural question is, are they using this to acclimate the changes in their physical environment?
00:43Most creatures' genetic information can change due to their environments undergoing changes as well.
00:47But those usually happen over the course of generations, happening via minute alterations that 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 fly.
00:59With the researchers finding that in just 20 hours, they could alter their own genetic code to adapt to a change in their environment.
01:05They, of course, are they using its natural language to maybe save their own thing?
01:10They could alter their own genetic code to adapt to a change in their environment in aMD-777.
01:11The re-operated language can be underpowered.
01:13Now, they'll be able to do the same thing with disease that you can advertise as the MD-777-777-7334-4.
01:14The re-operated language can be on the left of the left of the right of the right.
01:15The re-operated language is called the A6771-7334 with the P-7774-7668.
01:17The re-operated language can be made of its own fact.
01:18How many can do it?
01:19The re-operated language can be made of the result in different ways.
