Electric Eels Transfer Genes to Nearby Animals Through Electroporation

Researchers from Nagoya University in Japan found that electric eels can release electricity to modify small fish larvae through electroporation. This gene delivery technique enables DNA or proteins to enter the target cells through intense electrical pulses.

The researchers used glow-in-the-dark markers to see if the zebrafish had taken the DNA from the electric eel. The findings of the study showed that 5% of the zebrafish larvae had markers indicating that the electric eels were able to transfer their genes.

Assistant Professor Atsuo Iida, one of the leaders of the research team, strongly believes that electroporation can happen in nature. “I realized that electric eels in the Amazon River could well act as a power source, organisms living in the surrounding area could act as recipient cells, and environmental DNA fragments released into the water would become foreign genes, causing genetic recombination in the surrounding organisms because of electric discharge,” he said.

Read the article from Nagoya University for more information.