Electric Eels' Shocks Could Induce Genetic Modification in Other Species

Japanese researchers demonstrate potential for natural gene transfer via electric eels, adding a new layer to our understanding of evolution.

Electric eels can discharge up to 860 volts of energy, enough to punch holes in cell membranes and allow large polar molecules like DNA to enter.
Researchers from Nagoya University and Kyoto University in Japan conducted an experiment where zebrafish larvae were placed in the same tank as electric eels, and DNA coding for a green fluorescent protein was added to the water.
When the eel was provoked into emitting electric pulses, some of the zebrafish larvae began to glow, indicating that the electric eel's pulses had caused the fluorescent gene to be transferred into the zebrafish larvae.
This process, known as electroporation, has been used for drug delivery and to deliver DNA fragments into cells since the 1980s.
The researchers suggest that this could be a natural method of horizontal gene transfer in animals, adding complexity to the process of evolution.