New Study Fuels Debate About Source of Birds’ Magnetic Sense

A detailed analysis of cryptochrome 4 shows that the protein is highly sensitive to magnetic fields in vitro, but some researchers dispute the authors’ assertion that the findings could help explain avian magnetoreception.

Written byCatherine Offord

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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 ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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