new gene editing mechanism in squids
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New Gene-Editing Mechanism In Squids Discovered By Scientists

Yet another super-power of squids have been revealed by scientists. Squid’s ability to edit their genome within the nucleus of the neuron as well as within the axon has been discovered by scientists. Such gene-editing mechanism outside the nucleus of an animal cell is being observed for the first time.

The journal Nucleic Acids Research published the new research led by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) scientists Joshua Rosenthal and Isabel C. Vallecillo-Viejo at Woods Hole.

The process by which genetic information is passed from DNA to mRNA and to the synthesis of proteins called “central dogma” gets new implications with this discovery.

Rosenthal and colleagues discovered in 2015 that squids can edit their genome to a higher degree, orders of magnitude more than humans do. This property of squids allows them to tune the type of proteins produced in the nervous system.

Rosenthal, senior author on the present study said, we had been thinking that RNA editing happened in the nucleus and then the modified mRNAs are transported out of the cell. But the new discovery shows that squids can modify RNAs in the periphery of the cell, outside the nucleus. This

means that to meet the localized demands of the cell squids can modify the protein functions. This gives them the possibility to change the genetic information as needed. The researchers also point out that mRNAs are edited at a much higher rate in the nerve cell’s axon compared to that inside the nucleus.

In humans, many neurological disorders can be related to axon dysfunction. For those biotech companies that seek to tackle the natural gene-editing process in humans for therapeutic effect, insights from this new study could be useful.

MBL scientists collaborated with scientists from the University of California at Denver and Tel Aviv University for this study.

Rosenthal and colleagues had previously shown the ability of cuttlefish and octopus to edit mRNA to diversify the proteins they can produce in the nervous system. Relative to other invertebrates, squids, cuttlefish, and octopus are known for strikingly sophisticated behaviors.

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Editor’s Note; New Gene Editing Mechanism In Squids Discovered By Scientists, mRNA editing outside the nucleus, the first time in animal cells.