Humans can only use five senses to perceive the world around us. In the animal world, many can also feel the magnetic field of the earth. Researchers have reported new findings in magnetic detection in birds and recently presented their investigation. Scientists at the University of Oldenburg in Germany and Oxford in the United Kingdom have been collecting evidence that suggests that the magnetic detection of migratory birds such as European petitres is based on a specific protein sensitive to light in the eye.
In his research, the team demonstrated a protein called Cryptochrome 4 found on the retina of birds is sensitive to magnetic fields and could be the magnetic sensor that scientists have been looking for. Researchers in the project extruded the genetic code for Cryptochrome 4 found in European migratory robens and could for the first time produce the photoactive molecule in large quantities using bacterial cell cultures.
Another team of researchers used a range of magnetic resonance techniques and optical spectroscopy to study protein and demonstrate their sensitivity to magnetic fields. Researchers in the project can also discern the mechanism that gives rise to sensitivity, which is said to be another important advance. The electrons capable of moving inside the molecule after the activation of blue light plays a critical role.
Proteins, such as cryptochrome, have amino acid chains and Robin Cryptochrome 4 have 527 of them. Researchers in the project found that four of the 527 amino acids known as tryptophan are essential for the magnetic properties of the molecule. The calculations showed that the electrons jump from one tryptophan to another, generating something called radical pairs that are magnetically sensitive. The experiments showed that the generated radical pairs are essential to explain the observed magnetic field effects.
The team believes that the results it encountered are important because they show that the first time molecule of the visual apparatus of a migratory bird is sensitive to magnetic fields. However, the team is clear that they have not found final tests that Cryptochrome 4 is the magnetic sensor that the team is looking for.