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Turns Out Sloths Use a Bizarre Genetic Adaptations We've Never Seen Before

2026-07-07 Science & Technology
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Anton Petrov
Anton Petrov
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Support this channel on Patreon to help me make this a full time job: https://www.patreon.com/whatdamath (Unreleased videos, extra footage, DMs, no ads) Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent here: http://paypal.me/whatdamath Get a Wonderful Person Tee: https://teespring.com/stores/whatdamath More cool designs are on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QFIrFX Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about sloth's DNA Links: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12915-026-02632-5 #sloth #dna #science 0:00 Let's discuss sloths and their bizarre genes 1:18 What makes sloths so different? 2:45 Jumping genes and what we thought about them 4:20 First mammal that uses junk DNA 5:25 What is this for? Mitochondria! 6:30 Lego analogy 7:35 Why this matters to us - implications 10:02 Conclusions Enjoy and please subscribe Bitcoin/Ethereum to spare? Donate them here to help this channel grow! bc1qnkl3nk0zt7w0xzrgur9pnkcduj7a3xxllcn7d4 or ETH: 0x60f088B10b03115405d313f964BeA93eF0Bd3DbF The hardware used to record these videos: New Camera: https://amzn.to/4pCVINS CPU: https://amzn.to/4qXIaxC Video Card: https://amzn.to/2M1W26C Motherboard: https://amzn.to/2JYGiQQ RAM: https://amzn.to/2Mwy2t4 PSU: https://amzn.to/2LZcrIH Case: https://amzn.to/2MwJZz4 Microphone: https://amzn.to/2t5jTv0 Mixer: https://amzn.to/2JOL0oF Recording and Editing: https://amzn.to/2LX6uvU Some of the above are affiliate links, meaning I would get a (very small) percentage of the price paid. Thank you to all Patreon supporters of this channel Special thanks also goes to all the wonderful supporters of the channel through YouTube Memberships Credit: Mark Garlick www.markgarlick.com Sergiodelgado CC BY SA 3.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth#/media/File:SlothDWA.jpg Christian Mehlführer CC BY 2.5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth#/media/File:MC_Drei-Finger-Faultier.jpg Mariuswalter CC BY SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element#/media/File:DNA_Transposon.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrotransposon#/media/File:Retrotransposons.png Licenses used: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and relevant Creative Commons licenses

Top Comments (10)

@cleverhandle420 2026-07-07

When I was doing my undergrad in cell&molec and biochem, they still used the term ‘junk dna’ in textbooks but our professors were *very* clear that the field no longer, and many never, considered that to be an accurate term for that code. We were directed to not use that term and to never assume it was useless code in our work. It was assumed it did something, we just didn’t understand what yet. It’s so crazy to me how quickly our field changes. The newly minted textbooks were out-of-date as we received them, and we really only used them to study the history of whatever field we were learning, most of our education was done through peer-reviewed papers. And even then, arguments over the accuracy of them raged on. You have to really get used to being wrong in science. That’s why I love it.

276 41 replies
@MarioDegroote-i7t 2026-07-07

this confirms it, im part sloth.... its all clear to me now... now just to convince my boss.... im a protected species.... great work as always Anton!

103 9 replies
@xRakanishu 2026-07-07

Finally a topic slow enough I can understand

81 2 replies
@roncripe6123 2026-07-07

i saw a vid earlier today about how the octopus modifies its RNA to adapt to various ocean environments. takes about 4 days to modify its biology for a new environment.

60 8 replies
@The_Anti-Mormon 2026-07-08

To expand the LEGO/DNA analogy: you don't get rid of spare bricks just because you're not using them RIGHT NOW.

58 3 replies
@atticuswalker 2026-07-08

The sloth is my spirit animal.

31 4 replies
@captainleisuresuit 2026-07-08

"they look slow on the outside, but inside everything is super crazy" I feel seen 😅

18 1 replies
@antonkulak3897 2026-07-08

You can tell which channel is worth subscribing to based on the comment section. Pure gold.

12
@KentoLeoDragon 2026-07-08

I'm not lazy, my DNA is just more efficient than yours.

10
@BeInnovativeToday 2026-07-09

If you never seen a sloth up close, you really should. They’re super cool. They even smiled too, but in slow motion.

5

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