According to Nagoya University, the research led by Professor Eiichi Hondo revealed that the electricity produced by eels can cause the transfer of genetic materials into the cells of living things.
The research was conducted in the laboratory by adding green fluorescent protein (GFP), which carries DNA, to the environment of zebrafish larvae and electric eels.
After the eel electrocuted, GFP-positive cells were found in approximately 5 percent of the larvae examined under the microscope.
In this way, it was observed that “electroporation”, which means applying electricity to insert foreign DNA into the cell by increasing the permeability of the cell membrane in the laboratory environment, occurs spontaneously in nature.
Regarding the results of the experiment, one of the researchers, Atsuo Iida, said, “This shows that the electrical release from the electric eel may cause gene transfer to the cells.” he said.
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