Octopuses have learned to change their RNA.
Scientists said that octopus and cuttlefish are able to make changes in their RNA, thereby “controlling” their evolution.
The researchers ‘ findings were published in the journal Cell.
Most living organisms in the course of evolution mutations occur in DNA that determine their further development. However, scientists noticed that the octopus in the course of evolution developed a different mechanism: they are able to purposefully change their RNA in order to better adapt to environmental conditions.
Such “modifications” affect the production of proteins that allows you to better tailor the organism to existing conditions without resorting to actual mutations in the genome. It should be noted that scientists in 2015 noticed that squid can edit up to 60% RNA his nervous system, trying to better adapt to changing temperature.
Now an analysis of thousands of samples of RNA showed that similar ability is also the octopus and cuttlefish – shellfish that live mostly in warm seas near the coast.
In the future, scientists plan to study the mechanism of what is happening in the body of the octopus and cuttlefish changes, and figure out exactly what causes them.
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