Injecting snails could prove a memorable achievement

Scientists have been using injections to rewrite the memories of snails, in what the magazine Scientific American called “a startling result”. Yeah, I’m with you there. This revelation suggests several issues to ponder, so let’s start with the background. Over at the University of California, Los Angeles, where scientists definitely have wild hairdos, the snails were injected with RNA, which is a bit like DNA except it featured more heavily in X-men comics in the 80s.

No, I’m not a scientist. I’m doing my best here. Stick with me.

The first snails, who provided the genetic material, had been trained to exhibit a defensive reaction using mild electric shocks applied to their tails. After that, just tapping the tails made them curl up. Then, after their RNA was transferred by injections, the recipient snails had similar reactions when their own tails were tapped, even though they’d not had the shock treatment. Their training had been transplanted. So, those ponderworthy issues:

I suppose snails do have tails. It had never occurred to me before.

It seems cruel to shock, whack and jab them with needles, but the boffins say they don’t mind much, even if they were recoiling. Right.

And, most importantly, transplanting memories is pure science fiction.

I forget many things but I can name a bunch of great SF stories about memory. Among the best is the film Total Recall (no, not the remake), which is based on the Philip K. Dick story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, which examines the risks inherent in buying memories for transplant.

Whatever. I doubt I’m alone in finding this snails experiment tremendously exciting.

The apparent discovery of a way to absorb memories, or even store our own, is a major moment in human history.

So, assuming this breakthrough is developed into something in widespread use, I have a message for future generations.

Please access my RNA memory store and tell me: where did I put my keys?

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I suppose snails do have tails. It had never occurred to me before