Scientists recently found a “jumping gene” in an odd place. An RNA molecule from a tiny predatory bacterium had entered the cells of a very different microbe.1 Some reports said this could help genes spread between species.2 But the study did not show a new genetic system forming. It showed an existing system moving genetic material from one cell to another.
The team studied Candidatus Velamenicoccus archaeovorus, a small bacterium that attacks other microbes and carries a group I intron inside one of its ribosomal RNA genes. An intron is a piece of genetic material that can be cut out of an RNA copy. Some introns can also move to new places.1 Using special probes, the team found this intron RNA inside dead cells of an archaeon called Methanothrix soehngenii.1 That showed the RNA had crossed from one kind of microbe into another.
But crossing into another cell is not the same as becoming part of the other cell’s DNA. Furthermore, the team did not show that the intron entered the archaeon’s genome, gave it a new trait, or passed it to later generations. Those steps would be needed before the event could lead to an inherited change.
The RNA itself has a useful shape. After the intron is cut out, it can form a circle. Many RNA molecules have open ends where enzymes can start breaking them down. A circle has no open ends, so it can last longer.1
That shape matters because a moving RNA molecule must survive long enough to reach another cell. It must also keep the proper form needed for its next step. In an engineered system, durability is only useful if the part still works after transport. The same point applies here. Stability alone does not create a new function, but it can help preserve an existing one. Movement also depends on several other operational parts, such as the right RNA shape, the right DNA target, working enzymes, and a functional repair system.
Some group I introns use enzymes that cut DNA at set places. The cell’s repair system can then help copy the intron into that site, transitioning the information safely while maintaining the cell’s ability to function properly.3
This is where the study becomes especially interesting from an engineering perspective. A successful transfer is not just one event. It is a chain of events. Each step depends on the successful completion of a prior step. If the RNA breaks down, the target is missed, or the repair fails, the process stops. The system works because several parts act in the right order.
Overall, the new research adds a useful fact to microbiology: RNA can move between very different microbes. But moving existing genetic material does not lead to the formation of an entirely new system—its operative processes continue as usual, as the Creator originally intended.
References
- Kizina, J., A. Lonsing, and J. Harder. 2026. Mobile Intron RNA from a Bacterial Predator Accumulates in Dead Archaeal Cells. Scientific Reports. 16, article 14654.
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology. Caught in the Act: A Gene Jumps into the Void. Posted on mpi-bremen.de June 4, 2026.
- Dujon, B. 1989. Group I Introns as Mobile Genetic Elements: Facts and Mechanistic Speculations — A Review. Gene. 82 (1): 91–114.
* Dr. Corrado earned a Ph.D. in systems engineering from Colorado State University and a Th.M. from Liberty University. He is a freelance contributor to ICR’s Creation Science Update, works in the nuclear industry, and is a Captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
