The Editor of Itself

On the sixth morning, Chiara made coffee. She sat by the tank with Polly.

Den sjette morgenen laget Chiara kaffe. Hun satt ved tanken sammen med Polly.

Pasta was hanging upside down. Her body pulsed slowly. Her arms drifted.

Pasta hang opp ned. Kroppen hennes pulserte sakte. Armene drev rundt.

"I want to tell you one more thing," Chiara said. "It is the strangest thing I know about octopuses."

"Jeg vil fortelle deg en ting til," sa Chiara. "Det er det merkeligste jeg vet om blekkspruter."

DNA is the long-term plan of an animal. RNA is the working copy.

DNA er dyrets langsiktige plan. RNA er arbeidskopien.

In most animals, the RNA matches the DNA. But in octopuses, the RNA does not match. The cell rewrites parts of the RNA as it makes it. Most of the edits happen in the nervous system.

Hos de fleste dyr samsvarer RNA med DNA. Men hos blekkspruter gjør det ikke det. Cellen omskriver deler av RNA mens det lages. De fleste endringene skjer i nervesystemet.

"Why?" Chiara said. "It lets the octopus change its nervous system. It can tune its own brain to the water temperature or to its food."

"Hvorfor?" sa Chiara. "Det lar blekkspruten endre nervesystemet sitt. Den kan justere hjernen sin etter vanntemperaturen eller maten."

Pasta drifted. Her skin near the eyes turned soft pink and brown.

Pasta drev rundt. Huden hennes nær øynene ble myk rosa og brun.

"Each octopus is a slightly different animal," Chiara said. "Same DNA. But the working machinery is built fresh, for that water and that food."

"Hver blekksprut er et litt annerledes dyr," sa Chiara. "Samme DNA. Men arbeidsmaskineriet bygges nytt, for det vannet og den maten."

Polly thought about her own brain. It was hers. She did not want it to change. But she liked knowing that animals like Pasta existed.

Polly tenkte på sin egen hjerne. Den var hennes. Hun ville ikke at den skulle endre seg. Men hun likte å vite at dyr som Pasta fantes.