Octopuses rewrite their own genetic instructions on the fly to cope with cold water

Instead of waiting on slow DNA mutations to adapt to temperature, octopuses and squid can edit the RNA copied from their genes, changing the proteins their nerve cells build within hours. Researchers found over 13,000 such edits increased in octopus nervous systems after the animals were moved to colder water, a reversible trick most animals don't use nearly this heavily.

— Matthew A. Birk, Eli Eisenberg and Joshua J. C. Rosenthal et al., Temperature-Dependent RNA Editing in Octopus Extensively Recodes the Neural Proteome — Cell, 2023