BioTech Encyclopedia

Bird magnetic sense (cryptochrome)

Experiments: basic research on living systems, not technology.

Also: magnetoreception, quantum biology

Migrating birds sense Earth's magnetic field, likely through a light-sensitive protein in their eyes.

Known properties: Bird magnetic sense (cryptochrome)

Only what the cited papers report.

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Timeline

  1. 2000 A quantum compass model
  2. 2021 Songbird protein is magnetically sensitive

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lab biology 2000

A quantum compass model

Ritz, Adem and Schulten proposed that birds sense magnetic fields through radical-pair chemical reactions in eye photoreceptors.

As reported in: Ritz, Adem, Schulten (2000). A Model for Photoreceptor-Based Magnetoreception in Birds. Biophysical Journal. doi:10.1016/S0006-3495(00)76629-X

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lab biology 2021

Songbird protein is magnetically sensitive

Xu and colleagues showed cryptochrome 4 from the European robin, a migratory songbird, responds to magnetic fields in the lab.

As reported in: Xu, Jarocha, Zollitsch et al. (2021). Magnetic sensitivity of cryptochrome 4 from a migratory songbird. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03618-9

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