![]() RELATED ARTICLE: Secrets of Slow Aging and Longevity in Reptiles and Amphibians Discovered for the First TimeĬheck out more news and information on Biology in Science Times. The study was published in BMC Biology, titled "Identification of LINE retrotransposons and long non-coding RNAs expressed in the octopus brain." Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn's Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms expert and co-author of the study Giuseppe Petrosino added that the similarities they discovered through LINE between humans and octopuses are considered a type of convergent evolution, a phenomenon where distinct species which develop in their way from each other share the same molecular process independently according to the response of their similar needs. Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Neurobiology Sector specialist and lead author of the research Remo Sanges explained in the institute's press release that the discovery of the LINE genome group in a couple of octopus species is important for us to confirm that these jumping genes have essential functions more than copy and paste. The octopus brain’s cognitive ability has galvanized a new age of artificial intelligence, leading to the construction of flexible robotics and prosthetics, but at the same time, is pushing scientists and philosophers to tackle the important question of how an intelligent life form is defined. In the study, many jumping genes were also found in the specified octopus species, but while most of them are inactive, the LINE family particularly serves as an essential element in their cognitive abilities, too. The functions of LINE jumping genes are associated with a range of cognitive abilities, including memory and learning, experts say. Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements and Convergent Evolution This group of sequences is still present in the human genome up to this date and is likely to be active.ĪLSO READ: Jellyfish Sting and How Its Stinging Organelles Work ![]() The study authors say that most of the genomes they identified are categorized under the Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements (LINE). Other kinds of these elements even become inactive because of the changes brought by the generations of evolution, while some remained composed and were able to build a strong cellular mechanism that protected them from incurring significant modification. Scientists suggest that these sequences are commonly silent and eventually lose their ability to move around an individual's genome. These types of sequences are also considered the jumping genes, types determined by biologists with features that could displace themselves from one point to another of an individual's genetic structure, could shuffle, and even duplicate. In the human body, sequences known as transposons cover 45 percent of the entire genetics. The jumping genes specified in the paper were identified to be present in the brains of humans and two separate octopus species, particularly in the Octopus bimaculoides and the Octopus vulgarisms, Brain Tomorrow reports. According to their data, our brain organ shares a 'jumping gene' with the brains of octopuses. In the latest evolutionary research, experts have found one of these clues that could point out our similarities to other species.
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