Scientists Sequenced This Insect's Genome and Thought They'd Found an Alien Species | IRH 270

A small wingless insect that crawls across snow in sub-zero temperatures. When Northwestern University scientists sequenced its genome, they found genes that matched nothing — not similar to something known, not a close match with a few mutations. Nothing in any biological database on Earth. The lead researcher's first reaction was that his equipment had made an error and he'd accidentally sequenced an alien species.
It wasn't an error. The snowfly has antifreeze proteins structurally identical to Arctic fish and internal heat generation previously documented only in mammals like polar bears — in an insect body that weighs almost nothing. We found biology this strange on our own planet in 2026.
From IRH 270.
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