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 …

The geomagnetic field (GMF) is a natural component of our environment. Plants, which are
known to sense different wavelengths of light, respond to gravity, react to touch and …

Migration, broadly defined as directional movement to take advantage of spatially distributed
resources, is a dramatic behaviour and an important component of many life histories that …

Cryptochromes are flavoprotein photoreceptors first identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, where
they play key roles in growth and development. Subsequently identified in prokaryotes …

For centuries, humans have been fascinated by how migratory animals find their way over
thousands of kilometres. Here, I review the mechanisms used in animal orientation and …

Among the biological phenomena that fall within the emerging field of “quantum biology” is
the suggestion that magnetically sensitive chemical reactions are responsible for the …

Biological systems are dynamical, constantly exchanging energy and matter with the
environment in order to maintain the non-equilibrium state synonymous with living …

Migratory birds have a light-dependent magnetic compass, the mechanism of which is
thought to involve radical pairs formed photochemically in cryptochrome proteins in the …

Birds seem to use a light-dependent, radical-pair-based magnetic compass. In vertebrates,
cryptochromes are the only class of proteins that form radical pairs upon photo-excitation …

Cryptochromes are photolyase-like blue light receptors originally discovered in Arabidopsis
but later found in other plants, microbes, and animals. Arabidopsis has two cryptochromes …