諾貝爾獎/知更鳥視網膜中蛋白質的量子特性4地球磁場導航

protein cryptochrome (ErCRY4) navigate using Earth’s magnetic field

the quantum properties of protein cryptochrome (ErCRY4) in the retina of migratory European robins help them navigate using Earth’s magnetic field - A Nobel worthy work 蛋白質隱花色素 (ErCRY4) 使用地球磁場導航: 遷徙的歐洲知更鳥視網膜中蛋白質隱花色素 (ErCRY4) 的量子特性幫助它們利用地球磁場進行導航——一項值得諾貝爾獎的工作

volume 594 Issue 7864, 24 June 2021

Subscribe

Quantum compass

Many creatures use Earth’s magnetic field to help them navigate, but the exact nature of this internal compass has remained elusive. In this week’s issue, scientists from the Universities of Oxford and Oldenburg reveal the quantum properties of a protein that makes it a strong contender for the compass in migratory songbirds. The researchers examined the protein cryptochrome (ErCRY4), which is found in the retina of migratory European robins (Erithacus… show more

Cover image: Corinna Langebrake and Ilia Solov’yov 

• Article | 23 June 2021

  Magnetic sensitivity of cryptochrome 4 from a migratory songbird

  Cryptochrome 4 from the night-migratory European robin displays magnetically sensitive photochemistry in vitro, in which four successive flavin–tryptophan radical pairs generate magnetic-field effects and stabilize potential signalling states.

  • Jingjing Xu
  • Lauren E. Jarocha
  • P. J. Hore