Projektnummer

0071440

Zusammenfassung

The molecular mechanism of bio-magnetic sensing used for navigation by migrating animals is a major unsolved problem in contemporary science. The research team proposes that opsin, the biological light-sensitive pigment, is the actual magnetoreceptor. Opsins are transmembrane proteins arranged in membrane stacks or invaginations within photoreceptor cells in the eye and transmit the visual signal to the brain. Opsins covalently bind a retinal chromophore that enables light absorption. Preliminary results from quantum chemical calculations suggest that some opsins can populate triplet electroni...