An experiment to create a transparent squid with gene editing technology has been successful. Squids can change their skin color and make their bodies transparent, which is the first time that humans have done this ability arbitrarily.
The U.S. Woods Hole Marine Biology Institute reported in a recently published experimental report that it made the short-tailed squid (Euprymna berryi) transparent using gene editing technology.
Cephalopods, such as squid and octopus, are invertebrates that have been studied for a long time by the academic world because they have complex cranial nerves and are highly intelligent. Cephalopods are masters of camouflage that change their body color to suit their surroundings, and are also good at making their bodies transparent using special cells called chromatophores.
Comparison of short-tailed squid (left) and normal individuals whose body color has been changed to transparent through genetic manipulation <사진=우즈홀 해양생물학연구소>
The short-tailed squid, which the research team used as the subject of the experiment, is a small cephalopod with a body length of about 3 cm. It lives in the Indo-Pacific region from Indonesia to the Philippines, and is small and easy to raise, so it is mobilized for various cephalopod experiments.
To make the squid transparent, the research team manipulated the chromatophore. When the genetic editing tool CRISPR was used to turn off the switch on the gene that produces the squid’s pigment, the squid’s body became transparent as intended.
A person in charge of the experiment said, “There is a pouch containing pigment in the center of the pigment. Squids change their body color by manipulating the pigment located under the skin, and the simple idea that the body would become transparent if the pigment was removed was correct.”
Short-tailed squid expected to be a model organism for cephalopod research <사진=Nick Hobgood>
“This experiment will be of great help in looking into the nervous system of cephalopods in the future,” said the official. can do it,” he stressed.
The research team expected that the genetically engineered short-tailed squid would become a model organism for cephalopod research in the future. Model organisms are used in experiments to understand what is happening inside the body of a particular organism or group of organisms. Experimental rats and fruit flies, which we are familiar with, are typical examples.
“Cephapods such as squid and octopus are still an unknown world for biologists,” said a person in charge of the experiment.
Reporter Yoonseo Lee [email protected]
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2023-09-07 02:43:00
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