What octopus and human brains have in common

Cephalopods are intelligent animals with complex nervous systems. Octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth

Scientists have found that the evolution of microRNAs, which are tiny RNA molecules, is linked to a drastic increase in their microRNA repertoire

we come across the last known common ancestor of all human beings and all octopuses: a primitive wormlike animal with little intelligence and simple eyespots.

While vertebrates, particularly primates and other mammals, developed large and complex brains with diverse cognitive abilities, invertebrates, including insects, have much smaller and simpler brains

A new study shows that cephalopods, which are not fish and include octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, can do things we’ve never seen before

Scientists have discovered that a lot of RNA editing occurs in these octopuses—meaning they make extensive use of certain enzymes that can recode their RNA

So he started a collaboration with the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn marine research station in Naples. They sent him samples of 18 different tissue types from dead octopuses

The expansion of the well-known group of miRNA genes, called microRNAs, was the most interesting discovery

Our results suggest that the number of known miRNA genes is still low and that there are more miRNAs to be identified.

Dr. Rajewsky has been researching miRNAs for over 20 years. Instead of coding proteins, messenger RNAs code for small pieces of RNA that bind to messenger RNAs

"To give you an idea of the scale, oysters, which are also mollusks, have acquired just five new microRNA families since the last ancestors they shared with octopuses—while the octopuses have acquired 90

They have a central brain and a peripheral nervous system that are capable of acting on their own. The tentacle remains sensitive to touch and can still move even if it is lost

The reason octopuses are alone in having developed such complex brain functions is that they use their arms very deliberately to open shells

octopuses aren't typically used as model organisms, our molecular biological tools are very limited. We need better tools for studying these fascinating animals

The team from Tübingen University is now working on a new technique which will make the cells in octopus tissue visible at a molecular level

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