Our lab explores the biology of cephalopod RNA recoding and how it allows organisms to respond to changing environments. RNA recoding occurs when ADAR enzymes edit mRNA transcripts, introducing non-synonymous codon changes that “rewrite” the amino acid sequence originally encoded by DNA. While RNA editing occurs across animals, RNA recoding is relatively rare. However, soft-bodied cephalopods (squid, octopus, and cuttlefish) use it on an extraordinary scale, recoding nearly 60% of their protein-coding transcripts. Recoding can dramatically alter protein function, is tissue specific, and is responsive to environmental cues, suggesting that recoding is a flexible mechanism that enables context-dependent functions. Our lab seeks to understand how recoding shapes protein function, how it is regulated in different cellular and environmental contexts, and the evolutionary implications of large-scale recoding.