Octopus Intelligence May Lie in How Their DNA Folds, Study Finds

Researchers at the University of Vienna found that extensive genome rearrangements hundreds of millions of years ago reshaped the 3D folding of DNA in cephalopods. New contacts between distant DNA regions may have built gene-regulatory networks tied to their complex nervous systems. The study was published in Nature Communications.

• Genome rearrangements reshaped 3D DNA folding in octopuses, squid and cuttlefish
• New DNA contacts were described as "regulatory entanglement"
• Chromatin domains stayed stable while loops varied widely across species and tissues
• Many loops sit near genes linked to the nervous system