RNA Editing Explains Mystery of the Antarctic Optopus

       Octopi are a species who can be found in the coldest of waters, as well as the warmest. For this reason, scientists were shocked to find out that octopi living in the Antarctic as well as Caribbean octopi shared almost the exact same nervous system, that moved at the same rate. Usually the colder water would have slowed down the speed at which the nervous system of the organism worked. For years, scientists have attempted to figure out the reason for this strange development; now they know the answer. Scientists have found that edits are made to the creatures nerve cells, in order operate more efficiently in numbing water. Joshua Rosenthal, from the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, explains that something changes the way the instructions of the DNA are sent and interpreted by the bodies nerve cell building machinery. They realized that this occurred in the mRNA, which was edited different by it's editing enzyme. With the new edits, the nerve cells change the rate at which they open and close the "gate" that produces electrical impulses. In the Antarctic octopus, the opening and closing of the gate is more rapid, since cold slows down this rate. It is an important counteraction that allows the octopus to survive.
       This experiment was definitely a hypothesis based one. This is because scientists spent many years testing, observing and documenting the genes of these organisms. It is helpful to humans because it allows use to understand the inner workings of such elusive and interesting creatures. 


Journal: Science News (Vol.181 #3)
Author: Rachel Ehrenberg
Date Published: Feb. 11, 2012