Memory transfer has been one of science's early claims and more than enough Hollywood movies have successfully experimented with the topic. Recently, a team successfully transplanted memories of a snail to another one. Scientists transferred a form of genetic information called RNA (RNA stands for ribonucleic acid and just like DNA, RNA is vital for living beings) from the snail to another. When the RNA from the first snail was inserted into the other snail which had not undergone the process, the second behaved like it had been sensitised.

In a new study, published in the journal eNeuro, scientists from the University of California Los Angeles claim to have succeeded in taking a simple form of memory from one sea snail and implanting it in another. Sea snails were used as a subject in the research as their nerves transmit impulses much the way humans do.

For the study, snails were given a small shock to produce a learned defensive reaction. They were then trained to curl up for about 40 to 50 seconds compared to just one or two seconds for the untrained snails. And when the RNA molecules were transplanted from the trained snails to the untrained snails, they showed the same defensive response like the trained ones.

Lead researcher Dr David Glanzman who is also a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute said he hopes that the research could prove useful in treating degenerative brain disorders. He also said that in the future, he wants to identify the types of RNA that can be used to transfer memories.

In the study’s abstract, researchers wrote, "It is generally accepted that long-term memory (LTM) is encoded as alterations in synaptic strength. An alternative model, however, proposes that LTM is encoded by epigenetic changes."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 16, 2018 10:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).