New Study Finds Octopuses May Have Developed a Way to Survive Climate Change by Rewriting Their Brains Through RNA Editing

Octopuses are some of the most intelligent creatures on Earth after humans. They have a very large brain compared to their body mass, and they have a unique genetic makeup that allows them to learn. It is no surprise that they will be one of the few animals that would be able to take on major changes in our temperatures. Whether it is freezing cold or rising temperatures, octopuses may have just found a way to survive climate change.

Octopuses Adapt to Temperature Changes by Editing Their RNA

In a groundbreaking study, scientists have found a unique ability of octopuses to rewrite their brains, essentially, by editing their RNA so their body can adapt to rapidly changing temperatures. This is a process called RNA editing, where they can modify the proteins in their brains without changing their DNA, so their neural activity can function even in cold or warm temperatures.

The study did not specifically target climate change, but this quick adaptation from octopuses to be able to still hunt for food and survive in extreme environments means they are one of the few species that most likely have already developed a way to survive climate change.

Read more: WIRED

Neural Proteins Reconfigured for Thermal Resilience

Way Cool Genomics: Octopus RNA editors! #waycoolgenomics #science #rna #octopus #comparativegenomics

The new study found that octopuses’ ability to edit their RNA affects the key neural proteins in their brain, such as kinesin-1 and synaptotagmin. These proteins are crucial for signal transmission between nerves.

This means that even in extreme temperatures, their brain would be able to order their body parts to do their tasks that were meant to be done, including hunting for food, changing colors for protection, and other survival mechanisms, making them more likely to survive any climate change events in the future.

Rapid and Reversible Molecular Changes

What is more special about the octopuses’ ability to edit their RNA is that they can do this swiftly, sometimes in the matter of days and hours. This rapid adaptability is why they can survive in different extreme conditions and even in laboratory settings.

Any changes they make in their RNA are reversible too, which means that if they modified it to survive in freezing temperatures, and then their habitat turned warm, they would be able to keep up and rapidly adapt. Their RNA could also go back to its original state should the octopuses’ environment become more friendly.

Read more: Nature.com

Implications for Understanding Adaptation Mechanisms

If an intelligent creature such as an octopus could edit their RNA to adapt to their environment, humans should be able to do the same. We have all the technology and the intelligence necessary already to edit genetics.

If our climate suddenly changes, and we need to adapt and evolve again, just like what we have done for thousands of years, then it is best to learn from species that are already doing it. We also might need to help other animals that are necessary for our survival, who do not have octopuses’ intelligence to help them adapt.

That is why it is important to understand RNA editing of octopuses, for humans to learn from them, and develop more insights about other animals as well.

Octopuses Hack Their Own Brains: The Wild Science of RNA Editing!

Author's Final Thoughts

The discovery of RNA editing as a tool for thermal adaptation highlights just how smart these creatures are and has given us wider possibilities of ways to survive should our climate change indefinitely. Studying such adaptation mechanisms will help us understand the animal kingdom even better, a group of species we are a part of.

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