The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception
Although it has been known for almost half a century that migratory birds can detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, the primary sensory mechanism behind this remarkable feat is still unclear. The leading hypothesis centres on radical pairs — magnetically sensitive chemical interme...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| 格式: | Journal article |
| 語言: | English |
| 出版: |
Annual Reviewes
2016
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| _version_ | 1826294904045699072 |
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| author | Hore, P Mouritsen, H |
| author_facet | Hore, P Mouritsen, H |
| author_sort | Hore, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Although it has been known for almost half a century that migratory birds can detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, the primary sensory mechanism behind this remarkable feat is still unclear. The leading hypothesis centres on radical pairs — magnetically sensitive chemical intermediates formed by photoexcitation of cryptochrome proteins in the retina. Our primary aim here is to explain the chemical and physical aspects of the radical pair mechanism to biologists and the biological and chemical aspects to physicists. In doing so, we review the current state of knowledge on magnetoreception mechanisms. We dare to hope that this tutorial will stimulate new inter-disciplinary experimental and theoretical work that will shed much needed additional light on this fascinating problem in sensory biology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:52:53Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:c1e3c8ca-98b3-4e9d-8efd-0b9ad9b965eb |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:52:53Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Annual Reviewes |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:c1e3c8ca-98b3-4e9d-8efd-0b9ad9b965eb2022-03-27T06:04:55ZThe radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreceptionJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c1e3c8ca-98b3-4e9d-8efd-0b9ad9b965ebEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordAnnual Reviewes2016Hore, PMouritsen, HAlthough it has been known for almost half a century that migratory birds can detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, the primary sensory mechanism behind this remarkable feat is still unclear. The leading hypothesis centres on radical pairs — magnetically sensitive chemical intermediates formed by photoexcitation of cryptochrome proteins in the retina. Our primary aim here is to explain the chemical and physical aspects of the radical pair mechanism to biologists and the biological and chemical aspects to physicists. In doing so, we review the current state of knowledge on magnetoreception mechanisms. We dare to hope that this tutorial will stimulate new inter-disciplinary experimental and theoretical work that will shed much needed additional light on this fascinating problem in sensory biology. |
| spellingShingle | Hore, P Mouritsen, H The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
| title | The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
| title_full | The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
| title_fullStr | The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
| title_full_unstemmed | The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
| title_short | The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
| title_sort | radical pair mechanism of magnetoreception |
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