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Giant pandas have normal carnivorous digestive systems. Still, their major diet is bamboo. They have developed numerous traits; for instance, flat teeth fit for crushing bamboo and pseudo thumbs to grasp it, which enable them to survive off plants.
Every living thing has two components: RNA, which transports genetic information, and DNA, which stores it in a cell. Little non-coding RNAs called microRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial for gene expression—that is, the process by which the information contained in a gene is turned into a function. Food can help one absorb miRNAs from plants.
Researchers in China have now investigated whether miRNA generated from plants can enter systems of giant pandas and control gene expression, therefore supporting adaption to a bamboo-based diet.
Blood of giant pandas contains miRNAs obtained from plants, according to researchers. The study revealed that the meal bamboo utilized for giant pandas does influence their feeding behavior.
Sources:
Cross-Kingdom Regulation of Gene Expression in Giant Pandas via Plant-Derived miRNA, Frontiers in Veterinary Science. (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1509698
https://phys.org/news/2025-02-dont-pandas-meat-molecules-bamboo.html
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