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The Radical-Pair Mechanism of Magnetoreception
Open accessAbstract
Although it has been known for almost half a century that migratory birds can detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, the primary sensory mechanism behind this remarkable feat is still unclear. The leading hypothesis centers on radical pairs—magnetically sensitive chemical intermediates formed by photoexcitation of cryptochrome proteins in the retina. Our primary aim here is to explain the chemical and physical aspects of the radical-pair mechanism to biologists and the biological and chemical aspects to physicists. In doing so, we review the current state of knowledge on magnetoreception mechanisms. We dare to hope that this tutorial will stimulate new interdisciplinary experimental and theoretical work that will shed much-needed additional light on this fascinating problem in sensory biology.
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“Magnetic fields alter the coherent interconversion between singlet and triplet configurations, and because these spin states lead to different reaction outcomes, reaction yields are determined by spin coherence rather than reaction energetics [33,34,35].”
From The Heart’s Electromagnetic Field in Emotions, Empathy and Human Connection: Biosensor-Derived Insights into Heart–Brain Axis Mechanisms and a Basis for Novel BioMagnetoTherapies (2026) · cites this paper as [35]
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“While RPM does not directly address the cardiac field or emotional processes, it provides an experimental and theoretical basis that renders the hypothesis regarding biologic systems’ sensitivity to such weak magnetic fields mechanistically plausible.”
From The Heart’s Electromagnetic Field in Emotions, Empathy and Human Connection: Biosensor-Derived Insights into Heart–Brain Axis Mechanisms and a Basis for Novel BioMagnetoTherapies (2026) · cites this paper as [35]
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“Although its nanotesla-scale strength (0.1–1 nT) poses a significant limitation for conventional biological interpretation, stochastic resonance and the radical pair mechanism offer plausible theoretical frameworks through which weak magnetic fields could exert measurable effects under specific conditions [35,36,37,38,39].”
From The Heart’s Electromagnetic Field in Emotions, Empathy and Human Connection: Biosensor-Derived Insights into Heart–Brain Axis Mechanisms and a Basis for Novel BioMagnetoTherapies (2026) · cites this paper as [35]
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“The Radical Pair Mechanism (RPM) proposes that magnetic fields can influence chemical reactions by modulating the quantum spin dynamics of transient radical pairs.”
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Self-citationDirect Interaction of Avian Cryptochrome 4 with a Cone Specific G-Protein
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Self-citationTheoretical insights into the formation and stability of radical oxygen species in cryptochromes
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Self-citationAscorbic acid may not be involved in cryptochrome-based magnetoreception
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BackgroundSelf-citationOn the magnetosensitivity of lipid peroxidation: two- versus three-radical dynamics
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“, magnetically sensitive chemical intermediates that are formed by photoexcitation of cryptochrome [6,7]), which is present in animals [8], humans [9] and plants [10]; (ii) the presence of MF sensory receptors described in magnetotactic bacteria [11]; (iii) the presence of electroreceptors in elasmobranch animals [12]…”
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Self-citationWeak radiofrequency fields affect the insect circadian clock
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“Evidence (reviewed in Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Mouritsen, 2018) points to a chemical sensing mechanism based on the quantum spin dynamics of photo-generated radical pairs in cryptochrome flavoproteins contained in photoreceptor cells in the birds’ retinas (Hore and Mouritsen, 2016).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationRadical triads, not pairs, may explain effects of hypomagnetic fields on neurogenesis
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“The central elements of this mechanism, which has gained renewed popularity in the context of magnetoreception–specifically, the cryptochrome-based avian compass [7]–after its introduction in 1969 [8, 9], are two radicals (molecules with an unpaired electron).”
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Human magnetic sense is mediated by a light and magnetic field resonance-dependent mechanism
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Aslyamov, T., Ptaszyński, K., & Esposito, M. (2025) · Physical Review Letters · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.134.157101 · Cited by 25
EPR spectroscopy on flavin radicals in flavoproteins
Nohr, D., Weber, S., & Schleicher, E. (2019) · Methods in enzymology on CD-ROM/Methods in enzymology · doi:10.1016/bs.mie.2019.03.013 · Cited by 27
Flagella and Swimming Behavior of Marine Magnetotactic Bacteria
Zhang, W., & Wu, L. (2020) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom10030460 · Cited by 25
“As with a compass, the spin of one unpaired electron is primarily influenced by the magnetism of a nearby atomic nucleus, and the other is further away from the nucleus and influenced only by Earth’s magnetic field [71,72].”
BackgroundHermsmeier, R., Kłos, J. A., Kotochigova, S., & Tscherbul, T. V. (2021) · Physical Review Letters · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.127.103402 · Cited by 25
Radical pairs may play a role in microtubule reorganization
Zadeh‐Haghighi, H., & Simon, C. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-10068-4 · Cited by 24
Computational Reconstruction and Analysis of Structural Models of Avian Cryptochrome 4
Hanić, M., Schuhmann, F., Frederiksen, A., Langebrake, C., Manthey, G., Liedvogel, M., Xu, J., Mouritsen, H., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2022) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c00878 · Cited by 25
Self-citationHeyers, D., Musielak, I., Haase, K., Herold, C., Bolte, P., Güntürkün, O., & Mouritsen, H. (2022) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-022-02566-y · Cited by 19
“2000; Hore and Mouritsen 2016; Mouritsen 2018, 2021).”
BackgroundSelf-citationDriven Radical Motion Enhances Cryptochrome Magnetoreception: Toward Live Quantum Sensing
Smith, L. D., Chowdhury, F. T., Peasgood, I., Dawkins, N., & Kattnig, D. R. (2022) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters · doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02840 · Cited by 25
“9 47 − 49 Oscillatory motion resulting from the photoactivation of cryptochrome could be identified by molecular dynamics simulations, which so far have only been used to study equilibrium configurations and for time scales insufficient to assess the desired frequency spectrum.”
Applications of magnetic and electromagnetic forces in micro-analytical systems
Suwa, M., Tsukahara, S., & Watarai, H. (2023) · Lab on a Chip · doi:10.1039/d2lc00702a · Cited by 24
Natan, E., & Vortman, Y. (2017) · Movement Ecology · doi:10.1186/s40462-017-0113-1 · Cited by 25
“ception [21] and (ii) magnetite-based magnetoreception [2].”
Friis, I., Sjulstok, E., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13258-7 · Cited by 25
“(2), it would lead to a diminishing electron transfer rate constant which makes it problematic for the ISCA1-polymer to play a significant role in the radical pair mechanism of avian magnetoreception.”
BackgroundScheme for Detection of Single-Molecule Radical Pair Reaction Using Spin in Diamond
Liu, H., Plenio, M. B., & Cai, J. (2017) · Physical Review Letters · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.200402 · Cited by 25
Cryptochrome and quantum biology: unraveling the mysteries of plant magnetoreception
Thoradit, T., Thongyoo, K., Kamoltheptawin, K., Tunprasert, L., El-Esawi, M. A., Aguida, B., Jourdan, N., Buddhachat, K., & Pooam, M. (2023) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1266357 · Cited by 26
“The transition between these states, known as singlet-triplet interconversion, is facilitated by hyper fi ne interaction — an interaction between the nuclear spin (resulting from the spinning motion of protons and neutrons) and the spin of the unpaired electron (Hore and Mouritsen, 2016).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialAn efficient quantum mechanical method for radical pair recombination reactions
Lewis, A. M., Fay, T. P., & Manolopoulos, D. E. (2016) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/1.4972277 · Cited by 24
Impact of Static Magnetic Field (SMF) on Microorganisms, Plants and Animals
Zhang, X., Yarema, K. J., & Xu, A. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-10-3579-1_5 · Cited by 24
Magnetic fields and apoptosis: a possible mechanism
Tofani, S. (2022) · Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1080/15368378.2022.2073547 · Cited by 24
“…of experimental studies reporting correlations between ROS increase, induced by MFs, and consequent changes in biological parameters, only recently, the hypothesis that MFs may increase ROS concentration inside a cell has been experimentally validated by a Japanese study (Ikeya and Woodward 2021).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialFranco‐Obregón, A. (2023) · Bioengineering · doi:10.3390/bioengineering10101176 · Cited by 27
Krichen, S., Liu, L., & Sharma, P. (2017) · Physical review. E · doi:10.1103/physreve.96.042404 · Cited by 24
“We refer the reader to the paper by Hore and Mouritsen for a review [16].”
MethodMolecular Insights into Variable Electron Transfer in Amphibian Cryptochrome
Sjulstok, E., Lüdemann, G., Kubař, T., Elstner, M., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2018) · Biophysical Journal · doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2018.04.014 · Cited by 26
“The magnetic compass in birds was first suggested by von Middendorff (18), and is now thought to be a light-dependent (17,19–22) inclination compass (17,23,24) that does not distinguish between the north and south poles, but between the direction toward the pole and toward the equator.”
BackgroundKobylkov, D., Schwarze, S., Michalik, B., Michael Winklhofer, A., Mouritsen, H., & Heyers, D. (2020) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.2788 · Cited by 24
“(a) Avian magnetoreception In birds, three sensory systems have been suggested to be involved in magnetoreception [1]: the visual system relying on light-dependent, radical-pair-based reactions of sensor molecules, probably cryptochromes, located in the retina [2] providing directional, i.”
BackgroundSelf-citationAbsorption Spectra of FAD Embedded in Cryptochromes
Nielsen, C., Nørby, M. S., Kongsted, J., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2018) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters · doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01528 · Cited by 24
Denton, M. C. J., Smith, L. D., Xu, W., Pugsley, J., Toghill, A., & Kattnig, D. R. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-55124-x · Cited by 23
“However, beyond the conceptualpicture 6,7 , many questions remainunanswered, not least surrounding the identity of the magnetosensitive radical pair that the protein is presumed to accommodate 8,9 .”
Weak Radiofrequency Field Effects on Biological Systems Mediated through the Radical Pair Mechanism
Gerhards, L., Deser, A., Kattnig, D. R., Matysik, J., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2025) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.5c00178 · Cited by 26
Modeling spin relaxation in complex radical systems using MolSpin
Gerhards, L., Nielsen, C., Kattnig, D. R., Hore, P. J., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2023) · Journal of Computational Chemistry · doi:10.1002/jcc.27120 · Cited by 23
Self-citationWan, G.-J., Yuan, R., Wang, W.-J., Fu, K., Zhao, J., Jiang, S., Pan, W., Sword, G. A., & Chen, F. (2016) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.08.024 · Cited by 22
Spin relaxation in radical pairs from the stochastic Schrödinger equation
Fay, T. P., Lindoy, L. P., & Manolopoulos, D. E. (2021) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/5.0040519 · Cited by 23
Iron-sulfur complex assembly: Potential players of magnetic induction in plants
Parmagnani, A. S., D’Alessandro, S., & Maffei, M. E. (2022) · Plant Science · doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2022.111483 · Cited by 22
Wong, S. Y., Benjamin, P., & Hore, P. J. (2022) · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics · doi:10.1039/d2cp03793a · Cited by 23
Self-citationSpin Dynamics of Flavoproteins
Matysik, J., Gerhards, L., Theiss, T., Timmermann, L., Kurle-Tucholski, P., Musabirova, G., Qin, R., Ortmann, F., Solov’yov, I. A., & Gulder, T. (2023) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms24098218 · Cited by 22
“Magnetoreception allows the migratory species to detect the Earth’s magnetic field, allowing them to use an innate magnetic compass to precisely navigate between breeding and wintering grounds [42].”
BackgroundInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Hore, P. J., & Mouritsen, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Mouritsen, Henrik
- Venue
- Annual Review of Biophysics
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2016-07-05
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 299-344
- ISSN
- 1936-122X (ISSN-L)
- 1936-1238
- OpenAlex
- W2342982958
- Cited by
- 813
- References
- 222
- Citations by year
- 2026: 119 · 2025: 96 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 89 · 2022: 80 · 2021: 100 · 2020: 72 · 2019: 64 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 13
- FWCI
- 6.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annual Review of Biophysics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- EMF Biological Research Trust
- European Commission (FP7/2007–2013/ERC, 2007–2013, FP7 2007-2013, FP7/2007)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GRK1885, FP7/2007–2013)
- Volkswagen Foundation
- U.S. Air Force (FA9550)
- Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L011972/1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Electromagnetic Fields and Biological Effects
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Electron Spin Resonance Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
- Keywords
- magnetoreception, radical pairs, cryptochrome, bird migration, magnetic field sensing, photoexcitation, radical pair mechanism, sensory biology
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, Free Radicals, Retina, Space Perception, Animal Migration, Cryptochromes, Magnetic Fields
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