In a recent research study published in Science Advances journalBastian Fromm of the Norwegian Arctic University of UiT collaborated with colleagues from Ukraine, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, the United States and Germany to study the biology of RNA in squid.
Bastian Fromm leads a group researching evolution and microRNA at the Arctic University Museum in Norway. Scientists believe that microRNAs are the molecules responsible for creating new and specialized cells, especially nerve cells.
The researchers hoped to uncover the secret behind the squid’s behavior by determining the RNA sequence of 18 different tissues and brain areas of a common squid. This is called sequencing.
The light goes on in the cells
RNAs are small molecules in the cell that have important tasks in protein production and help turn genes on and off in animals. RNA is similar to the genetic material DNA and is found in all cells of all organisms.
– RNA called microRNA acts like light switches, or dimmers that determine the exact amount of proteins in our cells that determine cell type and complexity development, Fromm says.
Intelligence has evolved twice
When Bastian Fromm and his collaborator Kevin J. Peterson of Dartmouth College in the United States set out to analyze the microRNA data, the researchers were surprised:
– When we ran our first analysis of the squid data, we thought there must be something wrong with our equipment. These animals had more microRNAs than birds, Fromm says.
This explains why octopuses are smarter than most birds. It appears that the number of microRNAs animals have in their brains determines how intelligent they are. And squid has large amounts of microRNAs!
– This is amazing, because we know that intelligence has developed independently only twice in the course of evolution, and both times it appears to be driven by microRNA, Fromm says.
The largest outside of mammals
As the researchers became so excited about the discovery of microRNAs in squid, they also collected data from squid embryos.
It turns out that embryos have the highest percentage of new microRNAs. This could mean that microRNAs play a central role in making different cell types during development, Fromm says.
– Our analyzes confirmed that squid has the largest microRNA expansion we know of outside the mammalian world, says Peterson.
– This study is a milestone when it comes to understanding the complexity of organisms and confirms that microRNAs should be put in the spotlight for future research to better understand why animals are so incredibly diverse, says Fromm.
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