Researchers have found a way to transfer memories in snails via injection

• The sensitisation memory in the California sea hare are held in Ribonucleic acid (RNA).
• The memory from one sea hare was transferred to another via injections.

A new research could disprove traditional neuroscience. According to the study, the memory trace or engram that gives rise to sensitisation in the California sea hare are held in Ribonucleic acid (RNA). This challenges the traditional neurosciences findings that state memory is stored as a result of connections that are formed between brain cells (neurons).

The California sea hare is a foot-long marine snail that feeds on algae in the shallow tide pools of the Pacific coast. The research claims to have understood the simplest kind of memory a mollusc may form and this memory was transferred from one sea hare to another using an injection.

In order to test the idea, scientists implanted wires into the tails of California sea hares and give them a series of electric shocks. This sensitised the snail so when they were poked they contracted their gills in a robust offensive action. Soon after, the RNA from the subject was extracted and injected into another sea snail to see what happened. They found that the injected sea snails replicated the same sensitivity as of the donor.

If the research is proven right, it could give rise to similar advancements in higher organisms.