Published on May 27, 2016
by The Explorer

The aquatic wildlife holds many secrets and the marine biologists are at the onset of making small but significant discoveries that may some day, elighten other paths to a higher intelligence and a deeper understanding of the surrounding nature.

Even though oceanographical researchers are overwhelmed with the abundance of flora and fauna, a group of scientists had the inspiration to choose the cephalopods and try to break down their DNA code.

The octopus, the squid and the cuttlefish are encompassed in the coleoid sub-class of the molluscs, characterized by a wide behavioural range and astonishing morphological wrinkles: camera-like eyes, extremely flexible body and the most impressive chameleonic response. All these features are packed with the largest nervous system found so far among the invertebrates, making the octopuses the champions of the obscure aquatic universe.

One of the main reasons that determined the team of scientists to investigate the molecular base of the cephalopod brain was its ability to immediately adapt the neural network properties which greatly impact the memory and learning capacity. These capabilities can offer an explanation within the genome that incorporates biological mechanisms that allow tissues to rapidly alter proteins in order to change their function.

Along with the development of marine biology and modern day genetics, there have been identified hundreds of cephalopod-specific genes, some of which displayed advanced expression level in complex organic structures as the skin, the suckers and the nervous system.

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