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A protein found in robins’ eyes has all the hallmarks of a magnetoreceptor and could help birds navigate using the Earth’s magnetic fields, according to a study published today (June 23) in Nature. The research, an intensive in vitro analysis of robin cryptochrome 4 (Cry4), revealed that the protein is magnetically sensitive and fulfills several predictions of one of the leading quantum-based theories for how avian magnetoreception might work.
The authors of the study argue that their findings support Cry4 as the likely receptor for birds’ still largely mysterious magnetic sense. But some other researchers who spoke to The Scientist say that while the results are extremely useful for understanding cryptochromes, a family of proteins often studied in circadian rhythms, the paper omits some scientific context for its findings and doesn’t necessarily support Cry4 as the elusive magnetoreceptor.
“It’s a very important step to show that ...
