News Excerpt: 

In a recent study, a research group from Nagoya University in Japan found electric eels can release enough electricity to genetically modify small fish larvae.

Highlights of the study:

• Electric eels in the Amazon River could act as a power source, and organisms living in the surrounding area could act as recipient cells.
• In rivers and other water bodies, there are often traces of DNA from other animals and plants floating around known as environmental DNA. These fragments released into the water would become foreign genes, causing genetic recombination in the surrounding organisms because of electric discharge.
• 5% of the larvae taken in the study showed marks of gene transfer. 
• This indicates that the discharge from the electric eel promoted gene transfer to the cells, even though eels have different shapes of pulse and unstable voltage compared to machines usually used in electroporation.

Electroporation: 

• It is an established method of gene transfer in laboratory genetic engineering but has not been seen in nature before.
• It uses an electric field to create temporary pores in the cell membrane. This lets molecules (genetic material), like DNA or proteins, enter the target cell.
• Initially, It was developed for gene transfer, but now it is in use for the delivery of a large variety of molecules such as drugs and antibodies.

About Electric Eels

• Commonly known as the Electric Eel, its scientific name is Electrophorus Electricus.
• Electric eels are nocturnal (active at night), live in muddy, dark waters, and have poor eyesight.
• Electric eels can grow up to 8 feet in length. They are more closely related to carp and catfish than to other eel families.
• Electric eel (genus Electrophorus), is one of the three species of elongated South American knifefishes that produces powerful electric shocks to stun prey, usually other fish. 
• All three species—the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus), Vari’s electric eel, and Volta’s electric eel, are found in the Amazon River or its tributaries.
• An electric eel can deliver a shock because its nervous system contains several disc-shaped electrogenic (electricity-producing) cells called electrocytes.
• They are capable of generating up to 860 volts of electricity due to a strong specific tissue named Electric Organ.
• Its range spans across Brazil, the Guianas, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. 

Conclusion:

It cannot be definitively asserted that electric discharges act as a genetic factor in natural settings based solely on these findings. Further investigations are necessary to explore and accumulate evidence for its occurrence in natural habitats.