How Electric Eels Can Lead to Human Genetic Mutation
- majorkeycreative
- Aug 8, 2016
- 2 min read
There was a recent article on NPR about scientific research of Electric Eels in order to unlock the secret behind their ability to generate powerful surges of electric energy.
The average electric eel is about 6-8 feet long and can generate up to 600 volts of electric energy without shocking itself. Most of their vital organs rest within the first 6 inches of their body, and the rest is essentially an electric organ. How do they do it? There is a set of 30 genes that scientists have discovered are responsible for producing electric organs not only within eels, but across various unrelated species of electric fish. This means that even though the fish are "unrelated," they’re using the same genetic materials to build the electric organs within their respective lineages, leading scientists to believe that there are a limited number of ways to create electric organs.
This belief bring scientists to question the possibility of creating electric organs in non-electric creatures. That is, creatures not originally equipped with them, such as a non-electric fish. Scientist believe that if they can engineer electric organs in non-electric fish, they can bring they can bring the same technology to other species.
The Human Application
What if there was a way to build a battery inside of a persons body? The possibilities would be endless. If electric organs could be created in people, they would be able to act as "bio-batteries" in people with pacemakers. One of the problems with the current pacemaker technology is that it required battery power to operate, and like all batteries, they die and need to be replaced. The bio battery would eliminate the need of external batteries to power pacemakers in people. Thereby saving lives and greatly advancing technology in medical research.
As with most research and technology that is implemented in the universe, multiple use cases are tested. Electric eels use their electrical abilities for hunting and self defense, and like humans, are considered to be an apex predator. It would only be a matter of time, or people, until the eel's use cases were tested in humans.
