Understanding cellular responses to magnetic fields (VIDEO)
Caption
Researchers at the University of Tokyo irradiated cells with a short burst of blue light and then swept a magnetic field over the cells every four seconds while measuring changes in the intensity of the fluorescent light cells emitted. Statistical analysis of the light intensity in videos like this revealed that the cell's fluorescence dimmed by about 3.5% each time the magnetic field swept over the cells. These results are a crucial step in understanding how animals from birds to butterflies navigate using Earth's geomagnetic field.
Credit
Video by Ikeya and Woodward, CC BY, originally published in PNAS DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018043118
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