Sea slug dwells in the marshy areas of New England and Canada. It seems to be partly an animal and partly a plant. Sidney Pierce, a biologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa, had been studying this unique creature for 20 years. Sea Slug is officially called as Elysia chlorotica. He showed his research about this distinguished organism at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle. This is the first time when the multi cellular animals have been able to produce chlorophyll. They steal the genes which are required to make the green pigment called chlorophyll. With the help of the genes, the slugs can carry out the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process of the conversion of sunlight to energy. The genes minted from the algae make the green pigment called chlorophyll. They too steel tiny cell parts called chloroplast which in turn use chlorophyll to convert light energy to sunlight. The same procedure is conducted by plants.
He collected them in aquaria for months. They found that as long as they shine a light on them (around 12 hours), they can survive without food. The researchers used the radioactive tracer to confirm themselves that they are actually producing chlorophyll themselves. They are able to adapt to the stolen genes very well, that they pass it to the other generations too. Their babies have the ability to produce their own chlorophyll, but they can’t conduct photosynthesis until they have not eaten enough algae. The scientists are not sure how the slugs are able to accommodate the genes. There is a possibility that the DNA from one species are passed onto the other generations. But it is not yet been confirmed.
