A team of researchers from the UK has been awarded £3 million by Wellcome to attempt to understand how animals are able to detect magnetic fields.
Scientists have long known that many animals have a magnetic sense, which some use to navigate around the Earth, particularly during their spectacular seasonal migrations. However, given that the Earth has a large magnet at its core, it is perhaps not surprising that accumulating evidence suggests that all animals can respond to magnetic fields: often referred to as a ‘sixth-sense’.
The group is attempting to identify the biological mechanisms through which magnetic forces affect animals, including humans. It includes behavioural biologists Professors Ezio Rosato and Charalambos Kyriacou from the University of Leicester, neurophysiologists Professors Richard Baines and Stuart Peirson from Manchester and Oxford Universities, and quantum scientist Dr Alex Jones from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
Professor Ezio Rosato, from Leicester’s Department of Genetics, Genomes and Cancer Sciences, said: “We and others have shown that a blue-light sensing protein called Cryptochrome (CRY) is at the heart of magnetoreception.
“However, we surprisingly observed that only a short stretch at the end of CRY is absolutely required to mediate a biological response to magnetic fields. This is significant because it shows that animals might detect magnetic fields via a variety of mechanisms.
Professor Richard Baines from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester adds: “This award consolidates our earlier work because by understanding how the short CRY fragment functions, we will be able to move closer towards understanding the fundamental mechanisms of magnetoreception.”
Dr Alex Jones, Principal Scientist at NPL, said: “This work has significant potential to inform the development of measurement tools based on an engineered version of CRY that enables non-invasive, magnetic stimulation of target cells. Such tools would reduce measurement uncertainty in complex and noisy biological systems, and could even form the basis of future magnetic cell therapies.”
Leicester’s Professor of Behavioural Genetics and co-investigator Charalambos Kyriacou added: “We are a team with a unique blend of expertise, bridging the gap between quantum physics and biology, whose principles underlie magnetoreception, and behaviour.
“Our interdisciplinary approach has already provided major advances in this area. Thus, we are uniquely positioned to attempt to solve this fascinating and long-standing biological enigma.”
The award by Wellcome, which provides funding for research into science and health, will support the team’s research work over the next five years.
