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Squid can edit their own proteins on a staggering scale
Researchers mapped nearly eight thousand protein editing sites across more than two thousand proteins in the longfin inshore squid; the universe is apparently out of atoms to compare.
On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on BBN After HoursPublished
At a glance
- First reported by ScienceAlert: “Squid Are Even More Alien-Like Than We Thought, With an Unmatched Ability to Change Genetic Expression”.
- Covered on BBN on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 2:11 AM ET on BBN After Hours, by Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield.
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
What BBN said about it
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentSquid edit their proteins at nearly eight thousand sites, and the team estimates roughly ten to the power of two hundred forty-eight possible variants.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThat's well over a hundred orders of magnitude more than the atoms in the universe.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the universe has fewer atoms than a squid has options, and I'm still stuck choosing between two phone colors.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThat's possible variants, not variants it uses. The sites were in the optic lobe and gills.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentEven better, it's a menu nobody finishes. Apple's Pro event is Wednesday, and the squid still has more options.
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Sunday, October 25, 2026 · the Tech archive · all months
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