(Invited) Animal magnetoreception
Date:
Tutorial lecture on animal magnetoreception to Sendai Seiryo Secondary School (仙台市立仙台青陵中等教育学校) 1st and 2nd grade students for the JSPS Science Dialogue.
Every year, animals migrate hundreds of kilometers to escape the colder months. Their ability to navigate over great distances is made possible by magnetoreception – the animals’ ability to detect the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. The mechanism behind this sixth sense is still unclear. Current evidence suggests ‘cryptochrome’, a light-sensitive protein found in the retinae of birds (and other animals), plays a role in magnetoreception. The processes involved in the cryptochrome photoreaction are still unclear. My research focusses on trying to shed light on these processes to allow a better understanding of animal magnetoreception.
