The Modifiers

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Past studies have shown that cephalopods, such as the octopus and the squid, possess a unique ability to alter their genetic code.

Scientists remain unsure as to why the creatures do this, but a new study on octopuses discovered that they can tweak their RNA to adapt to temperature changes, New Scientist reported.

Researcher Eli Eisenberg and his colleagues experimented on California two-spot octopuses to see how the creatures responded to changes in water temperatures.

They gradually shifted the temperature to around 55 degrees Fahrenheit for one group and 72 degrees Fahrenheit for another.

The team noticed that the octopuses in the colder tank made more than 13,000 edits to their RNA, which resulted in changes to proteins made in the nerve cells.

Specifically, two proteins experienced major alterations in response to the temperature: Kinesin-1 and synaptotagmin, which are both critical for the functioning of the nervous system.

Eisenberg’s team noted that there are still many questions about how these changes benefit the cephalopod and the exact drivers behind it.

“Thousands of proteins are different in the cold and warm, so to understand how they all work in concert to give the octopuses resilience to temperature changes is very complicated,” Eisenberg explained.