Genetic Engineering: Electric eels introduce foreign genetic material into other fish
Animals use electric shocks to transfer genetic material into foreign cells. Experts speculate that they also practice “genetic engineering” in nature – but there is no evidence of this yet.
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The electric eel, with its electric organs, can deliver electric shocks of several hundred volts.
Electric eels can use their electric organs to change the genetic makeup of other animals. This was reported by a team led by Atsu Iida from Nagoya University in Japan In the journal “Zoology”. The mechanism corresponds to the electroporation mechanism. This process is also used in genetic engineering to artificially modify cells. The working group suspects that snakes could also help transfer genetic material between species in their natural habitat. However, this is still just speculation as of now.
With their three electric organs arranged in pairs along the body, electric eels are a genus electrophoresis Producing high and low voltage surges. While these animals use weak impulses to orient themselves in their surroundings, they emit powerful electric shocks when defending themselves or stunning their prey. Ida’s team used the latter behavior in their experiments.
The experts dissolved a ring-shaped strip of genetic material containing a gene for a protein that glows under ultraviolet light in a small container of water, and added pre-anesthetized zebrafish larvae. They lowered this container into a tank where they fed a goldfish, which was also startled, to an electric eel. When bitten, the eel delivers electric shocks of up to 250 volts. The experts then found cells in which the glowing protein appeared in about five percent of the larvae.
The experiment is based on the technique of electroporation, in which cell membranes are made permeable for a short period using an electric field. This allows the introduction of large molecules, such as foreign DNA strands, into cells that would not normally penetrate the membrane. Electroporation is considered the standard procedure in genetic engineering. In theory, electric shocks from electric eels should have this effect as well. However, electroporation is typically used in cell cultures – and it was not previously clear that this technique would also work in complex animals such as zebrafish larvae.
However, the results of the study are not yet clear and leave unanswered questions. Even in control experiments containing no foreign DNA, more fluorescence appeared in individual experiments. It is not clear whether this is due to accidental contamination or another effect – more experiments will have to show what exactly happens to the larvae. It is also uncertain whether these electric eel findings can actually be transferred to the natural environment, and if so, what significance the impact will have there. So far there is no evidence that germ cells are affected in electric eel experiments, and only then does gene transfer have significance beyond the individual.
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