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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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Items 301–400 of 812
Prussian blue technique is prone to yield false negative results in magnetoreception research
Curdt, F., Haase, K., Ziegenbalg, L., Greb, H., Heyers, D., & Michael Winklhofer, A. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-12398-9 · Cited by 13
“(2) Apart from false negatives, such a generic labelling approach may also yield false positives in the form of PB positive sites colocalizing with nerves of the autonomous system, e.”
BackgroundOpportunities for diamond quantum metrology in biological systems
Belser, S., Hart, J., Gu, Q., Shanahan, L., & Knowles, H. S. (2023) · Applied Physics Letters · doi:10.1063/5.0147469 · Cited by 13
Pan, H., Xiao, X. H., Hu, B., Shen, Y. F., & Wang, M. (2017) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry C · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b11357 · Cited by 13
Bioinspired magnetoreception and navigation in nonorthogonal environments using magnetic signatures
Taylor, B. K., & Corbin, S. (2019) · Bioinspiration & Biomimetics · doi:10.1088/1748-3190/ab40f8 · Cited by 13
“…underlying mechanics of magnetoreceptors are still being identified and explored (Lohmann 2010, Eder et al 2012, Treiber et al 2012, Vidal-Gadea et al 2015, Shaw et al 2015, Edelman et al 2015, Hore and Mouritsen 2016, Hiscock et al 2017), so connecting a behavior to its underpinnings is difficult.”
BackgroundKominis, I. K. (2020) · Physical Review Research · doi:10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023206 · Cited by 17
Long-distance transequatorial navigation using sequential measurements of magnetic inclination angle
Taylor, B. K., Lohmann, K. J., Havens, L. T., Lohmann, C. M. F., & Granger, J. N. (2021) · Journal of The Royal Society Interface · doi:10.1098/rsif.2020.0887 · Cited by 13
Крылов, В. В., Izvekov, E. I., Pavlova, V. V., Pankova, N. A., & Osipova, E. A. (2022) · Biology · doi:10.3390/biology11040591 · Cited by 13
“The cryptochromes, which are key elements of organisms’ transcription–translation negative feedback loop, are considered the most probable biological magnetodetector [27].”
BackgroundElectrochemistry in Magnetic Fields
Luo, S., Elouarzaki, K., & Xu, Z. J. (2022) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202203564 · Cited by 14
Genetic analysis of cryptochrome in insect magnetosensitivity
Kyriacou, C. P., & Rosato, E. (2022) · Frontiers in Physiology · doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.928416 · Cited by 12
“Further light absorption fully reduces FAD to FADH that can be converted back to the oxidised form in darkness by O2 (Hore and Mouritsen, 2016).”
Background(2025) · doi:10.1021/acschembio.4c00576 · Cited by 12
“5,20,42 Pigeon ClCry4 shows similar photochemistry and radical-pair formation, 37,47 but it seems to differ from ErCry4a with respect to localization in the retina and protein − protein interactions.”
Self-citationSchneider, W. T., Holland, R. A., & Lindecke, O. (2023) · The European Physical Journal Special Topics · doi:10.1140/epjs/s11734-022-00755-8 · Cited by 12
“The radical pair mechanism is reliant upon certain wavelengths of light in order to function correctly as a magnetic sense [2, 90].”
BackgroundFrederiksen, A., Langebrake, C., Hanić, M., Manthey, G., Mouritsen, H., Liedvogel, M., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2023) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c02963 · Cited by 12
Self-citationShi, H., Tang, R., Wang, Q., & Song, T. (2024) · Measurement Science and Technology · doi:10.1088/1361-6501/ad21d3 · Cited by 12
Structural Rearrangements of Pigeon Cryptochrome 4 Undergoing a Complete Redox Cycle
Schuhmann, F., Ramsay, J. L., Kattnig, D. R., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2024) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c00424 · Cited by 12
“While the RPD state has an expected lifetime of up to 1 μ s, 8 the reoxidation pathway of the FAD acts on a scale of more than 100 μ s. 5,15 On the other end, W D H • + is deprotonated swiftly and subsequently reduced to reform W D H. 4 The schematic radical pair reduction − reoxidation cycle is…”
BackgroundThöni, V., Dimova, E. Y., Kietzmann, T., Usselman, R. J., & Egg, M. (2024) · Redox Biology · doi:10.1016/j.redox.2024.103152 · Cited by 14
“Central to this mechanism is the involvement of Crypto-chrome (CRY) in the retinas of animals ’ eyes, forming a quantum compass used by migrating birds [2 – 6].”
BackgroundRadicalPy: A Tool for Spin Dynamics Simulations
Antill, L. M., & Vatai, E. (2024) · Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation · doi:10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00887 · Cited by 10
“13 In recent times, the radical pair mechanism has gained popularity with nonspecialists through its proposed involvement in biological magnetoreception 14 and quantum biology.”
Approaching the Quantum Limit of Energy Resolution in Animal Magnetoreception
Kominis, I. K., & Gkoudinakis, E. (2025) · PRX Life · doi:10.1103/prxlife.3.013004 · Cited by 14
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Effect of Intermittent ELF MF on Umbilical Cord Blood Lymphocytes
Zastko, L., Makinistian, L., Moravčíková, A., Jakus, J., & Belyaev, I. Y. (2020) · Bioelectromagnetics · doi:10.1002/bem.22302 · Cited by 12
“Since the present study was not designed to unravel the mechanisms underlying the observed effects, our results pose little preference for any of the interaction models proposed in the literature [Binhi, 2002; Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Babcock and Kattnig, 2020].”
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Adámková, J., Benediktová, K., Svoboda, J., Bartoš, L., Vynikalová, L., Nováková, P., Hart, V., Painter, M. S., & Burda, H. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245940 · Cited by 12
“Another proposed mechanism for magnetoreception in animals is based on an effect of the magnetic field on the quantum spin states of a photo-excited chemical reaction that forms long-lived, spin correlated radical pair intermediates (radical pair mechanism; [40,41].”
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Deviers, J., Cailliez, F., Gutiérrez, B. Z., Kattnig, D. R., & de la Lande, A. (2022) · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics · doi:10.1039/d1cp05804e · Cited by 12
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Quantum based effects of therapeutic nuclear magnetic resonance persistently reduce glycolysis
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Magnetoreception in cryptochrome enabled by one-dimensional radical motion
Ramsay, J. L., & Kattnig, D. R. (2023) · AVS Quantum Science · doi:10.1116/5.0142227 · Cited by 13
‘Seeing’ the electromagnetic spectrum: spotlight on the cryptochrome photocycle
Aguida, B., Babo, J., Baouz, S., Jourdan, N., Procopio, M., El-Esawi, M. A., Engle, D., Mills, S. A., Wenkel, S., Huck, A., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1340304 · Cited by 12
“This is known as the Radical Pair mechanism of biological magnetosensing (Hore and Mouritsen, 2016), and predicts modest (less than 10”
BackgroundInfluentialOliva, R., Jansen, B., Benscheidt, F., Sandbichler, A. M., & Egg, M. (2018) · Biological Rhythm Research · doi:10.1080/09291016.2018.1498194 · Cited by 14
“…Wiltschko 2006) is assigned to the protein form of CRY which responds to alterations of the geomagnetic field by forming spin-correlated radical pairs (RPs) between FADH and three specific tryptophan residues, involving thus the cellular redox balance (Hore and Mouritsen 2016; Vanderstraeten 2017).”
BackgroundHong, G., Pachter, R., Essen, L., & Ritz, T. (2020) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/1.5133019 · Cited by 12
Floquet theory of radical pairs in radiofrequency magnetic fields.
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Bradlaugh, A. A., Munro, A. L., Jones, A. R., & Baines, R. (2021) · Quantum Reports · doi:10.3390/quantum3010007 · Cited by 11
“Based on a large body of subsequent work, which this review will not describe (for an in-depth review, see [3]), the generally accepted mechanism requires an RP, generated by photo-reduction of FAD, to undergo interconversion between the singlet and triplet states.”
BackgroundRandom Effects in Magnetobiology and a Way to Summarize Them
Binhi, V. N. (2021) · Bioelectromagnetics · doi:10.1002/bem.22359 · Cited by 12
“The molecular mechanisms of specific and especially nonspecific effects that occur even in MFs, which are orders of magnitude lower than the geoMF, are still not completely clear [Prato et al., 2013; Hore and Mouritsen, 2016].”
BackgroundKarwinkel, T., Michael Winklhofer, A., Christoph, P., Allenstein, D., Hüppop, O., Brust, V., Bairlein, F., & Schmaljohann, H. (2022) · Journal of The Royal Society Interface · doi:10.1098/rsif.2021.0805 · Cited by 12
Protein and Solvent Reorganization Drives Radical Pair Stability in Avian Cryptochrome 4a
Luo, J., Hungerland, J., Solov’yov, I. A., Subotnik, J. E., & Hammes‐Schiffer, S. (2025) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.5c15726 · Cited by 11
“5,50 − 53 For Er Cry4a, such a long-lived radical pair was proposed to involve RP C and RP D .”
Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors
Yi, R., Hiscock, H. G., & Hore, P. J. (2021) · Biophysical Journal · doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2020.12.023 · Cited by 11
“The conclusion that the total number of photons controls the precision of the compass also has a bearing on a question posed in (5): whether εH would be affected by considering the night sky as a collection of bright stars on a dark background rather than a uniform source of dim light.”
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Einholz, C., Nohr, D., Rodriguez, R., Topitsch, A., Kern, M., Goldmann, J., Chileshe, E., Okasha, M., Weber, S., & Schleicher, E. (2021) · Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics · doi:10.1016/j.abb.2021.108787 · Cited by 10
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“…butter fl ies, salmon and migratory birds can sense and use GMF information to navigate long distances, nesting or burrowing (Kirschvink et al., 2001; Wiltschko and Wiltschko, 2005, 2006; Guerra et al., 2014; Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Qin et al., 2016; Mouritsen, 2018; Wan et al., 2021; Xie, 2022).”
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“Earlier studies of CRY4 proteins have often focussed on the study of residues of the proteins that could potentially be crucial for magnetic sensing through the so-called radical pair mechanism [27,29].”
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Mougkogiannis, P., Nikolaidou, A. E., & Adamatzky, A. (2024) · BioNanoScience · doi:10.1007/s12668-024-01678-5 · Cited by 11
“Theoretical and experimental investigations indicate that light-induced radical pair reactions in cryptochrome proteins can produce quantum-coherent oscillations that respond to weak magnetic fields [127].”
Magneto-oncology: a radical pair primer
Hore, P. J. (2025) · Frontiers in Oncology · doi:10.3389/fonc.2025.1539718 · Cited by 11
“By contrast, in weak static fi elds, comparable to or smaller than the internal magnetic interactions, a speci fi c resonance at the Larmor frequency (e.g. 1.4 MHz for a 50 m T fi eld) is not normally expected (14, 65).”
InfluentialSelf-citationCruz, I. (2025) · Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1080/15368378.2025.2508466 · Cited by 11
“Even at field strengths in the microtesla range, the only widely accepted bio-physical mechanism capable of transducing such weak magnetic fields into biological responses is the Radical Pair Mechanism (Hore and Mouritsen 2016; Ritz et al. 2000; Zandieh et al. 2025).”
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Costa, G. J., & Liang, R. (2025) · ACS Central Science · doi:10.1021/acscentsci.5c00376 · Cited by 10
Influence of Magnetic Fields on Electrochemical Reactions of Redox Cofactor Solutions
Park, J., Koehler, F., Varnavides, G., Antonini, M., & Anikeeva, P. (2021) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202106288 · Cited by 11
A magnet attached to the forehead disrupts magnetic compass orientation in a migratory songbird
Packmor, F., Kishkinev, D., Bittermann, F., Kofler, B., Machowetz, C., Zechmeister, T. C., Zawadzki, L. C., Guilford, T., & Holland, R. A. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.243337 · Cited by 11
“The radical pair model, a leading concept for the magnetic compass of birds, proposes reversible light-dependent chemical reactions inside the retina of the birds’ eyes as the basis for the avian magnetic sense providing directional information, with the yield of these reactions depending on the alignment of a specifi…”
BackgroundAlachkar, A. (2022) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2022.07.002 · Cited by 13
Electrochemical CO2 reduction on few-atomic-layer bismuth nanosheets
Pan, J., Li, P., Jiang, X., Shen, Y. F., & Wang, M. (2023) · Materials Today Physics · doi:10.1016/j.mtphys.2023.101096 · Cited by 11
On the optimality of the radical-pair quantum compass
Smith, L. D., Glatthard, J., Chowdhury, F. T., & Kattnig, D. R. (2024) · Quantum Science and Technology · doi:10.1088/2058-9565/ad48b4 · Cited by 12
“Besides magnetite-based sensors [6], this radical-pair mechanism (RPM) [7–9] is now discussed as the fundamental enabler of a magnetic field sense, magnetoreception, which is widespread in migratory animals [10, 11], such as migratory songbirds [12], that use it for navigation.”
BackgroundAtomistic Insights into Cryptochrome Interprotein Interactions
Kimø, S. M., Friis, I., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2018) · Biophysical Journal · doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2018.06.029 · Cited by 11
“For example, CRY alone cannot explain the disturbance of the avian magnetic compass sense when exposed to weak radio fields (5,53,54).”
BackgroundInfluentialPeptoid-Conjugated Magnetic Field-Sensitive Exciplex System at High and Low Solvent Polarities
Kim, D., Lee, Y. J., Ahn, D.-H., Song, J., Seo, J., & Lee, H. (2020) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters · doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c00636 · Cited by 11
Cryptochrome expression in avian UV cones: revisiting the role of CRY1 as magnetoreceptor
Pinzon-Rodriguez, A., & Muheim, R. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92056-8 · Cited by 12
Nuclear polarization effects in cryptochrome-based magnetoreception
Wong, S. Y., Solov’yov, I. A., Hore, P. J., & Kattnig, D. R. (2021) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/5.0038947 · Cited by 11
Self-citationDimerization of European Robin Cryptochrome 4a
Hanić, M., Antill, L. M., Gehrckens, A. S., Schmidt, J., Görtemaker, K., Bartölke, R., El‐Baba, T. J., Xu, J., Koch, K., Mouritsen, H., et al. (2023) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c01305 · Cited by 10
Self-citationExpression of clMagR/clCry4 protein in mBMSCs provides T2-contrast enhancement of MRI
Li, N., Wang, P., Xie, Y., Wang, B., Zhu, C., Xue, L., Han, X., Gu, N., & Sun, J. (2023) · Acta Biomaterialia · doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2023.09.039 · Cited by 10
Sensitivity enhancement of radical-pair magnetoreceptors as a result of spin decoherence
Luo, J. (2024) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/5.0182172 · Cited by 10
Alvarez, P. H., Chowdhury, F. T., Smith, L. D., Brokowski, T. J., Aiello, C. D., Kattnig, D. R., & de Oliveira, M. C. (2024) · APL Quantum · doi:10.1063/5.0213120 · Cited by 13
Biophysical mechanism of animal magnetoreception, orientation and navigation
Panagopoulos, D. J., Karabarbounis, A., & Chrousos, G. P. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-77883-9 · Cited by 10
“…magnetoreception did not seem to be affected by the above scientific progress, and insisted on specific hypothetical mechanisms namely the magnetite and the radical pair hypotheses, even though it was admitted that there was no progress with resolving the problem in this way 3,4,10,11,36,38 .”
Avian photoreceptor homologies and the origin of double cones
Liu, Y., Hurley, E. C., Ogawa, Y., Gause, M., Toomey, M. B., Myers, C. A., & Corbo, J. C. (2025) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2025.02.040 · Cited by 10
“19 As mentioned above, the two members of the double cone express the same opsin ( OPN1LW ) but differ with respect to organellar and carotenoid content.”
Magnetic effects in biology: Crucial role of quantum coherence in the radical pair mechanism
Binhi, V. N. (2025) · Physical review. E · doi:10.1103/n3fs-fsnv · Cited by 10
Simulating geomagnetic bird navigation using novel high-resolution geomagnetic data
Zein, B., Long, J., Safi, K., Kölzsch, A., Benitez‐Paez, F., Wikelski, M. C., Kruckenberg, H., & Demšar, U. (2022) · Ecological Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2022.101689 · Cited by 10
“, 2015), either focusing on a single navigational strategy (Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Wiltschko and Wiltschko, 2015) or on one geomagnetic value (Muheim et al.”
BackgroundZhang, Y., Zeng, L., Wei, Y., Zhang, M., Pan, W., Sword, G. A., Yang, F., Chen, F., & Wan, G. (2022) · Frontiers in Physiology · doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.954228 · Cited by 9
“Three potential mechanisms, including radical-pair-based quantum compass(Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Wan et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2021), magnetite-based mechanisms(Kirschvink, 2001; Monteil and Lefevre, 2020) and iron-sulfur cluster assembly 1 (IscA1 or MagR)-Cryptochrome (Cry) magnetosensing complex model (Qin et al.”
BackgroundRotov, A. Y., Goriachenkov, A. A., Cherbunin, R. V., Firsov, M. L., Chernetsov, N., & Astakhova, L. A. (2022) · Cells · doi:10.3390/cells11193056 · Cited by 10
“The individual double cone was proposed as a magnetoreceptor in several studies [13,19], and the most current model does not impose any particular restrictions on the spectral properties of the OD but demands both principal and accessory cones droplets to transmit the incident light independently of its intensity and…”
BackgroundInfluentialKurle-Tucholski, P., Köhler, L., Zhao, Z., Link, G., Wiebeler, C., & Matysik, J. (2023) · Journal of Magnetic Resonance · doi:10.1016/j.jmr.2023.107497 · Cited by 10
Gurhan, H., Bajtoš, M., & Barnes, F. S. (2023) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom13071112 · Cited by 10
“Furthermore, it proposes a mechanism through which an RF magnetic field at nT intensity can alter growth rates, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial mass based on the previously discovered phenomenon of the “Radical Pair Mechanism” [6].”
BackgroundPerspectives of Magnetically Enhanced Electroconversion of CO2 to Formic Acid and Formate
González‐Fernández, C., Díaz‐Sainz, G., Gutierrez-Carballo, A., Bringas, E., Ortíz, I., Botte, G. G., & Gómez‐Pastora, J. (2024) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c06654 · Cited by 11
Frederiksen, A., Gerhards, L., Reinholdt, P., Kongsted, J., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2024) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c02168 · Cited by 10
“8,23 While in vitro analyses of cryptochromes provide insights into the general signaling dynamics, 9,18,23 they rarely address the influence of the protein environment on electron excitation and transfer processes, the knowledge gap is gradually being filled by in silico research.”
BackgroundTowards predicting intracellular radiofrequency radiation effects
Nielsen, C., Hui, S. Y. R., Lui, W., & Solov’yov, I. A. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213286 · Cited by 10
“The produced radicals can appear crucial for the functioning of molecular systems [6], or become unfortunate side products as for example the superoxide produced in the bc1 complex [24, 25].”
The Effects of Bio-inspired Electromagnetic Fields on Normal and Cancer Cells
Liu, X., Liu, Z., Liu, Z., Zhang, S., Bechkoum, K., Clark, M., & Ren, L. (2019) · Journal of Bionic Engineering · doi:10.1007/s42235-019-0108-2 · Cited by 10
Quantum mechanical spin dynamics of a molecular magnetoreceptor
Lindoy, L. P., Fay, T. P., & Manolopoulos, D. E. (2020) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/5.0006411 · Cited by 11
A Rationally Designed Building Block of the Putative Magnetoreceptor MagR
Yang, P., Cai, T., Zhang, L., Yu, D., Guo, Z., Zhang, Y., Li, G., Zhang, X., & Xie, C. (2022) · Bioelectromagnetics · doi:10.1002/bem.22413 · Cited by 10
“A class of flavoproteins, cryptochromes (Crys), have been suggested as candidate magnetic sensors in which radical pairs are formed photochemically and sense magnetic fields via the quantum mechanics of electron spins [Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Mouritsen, 2018; Xu et al., 2021].”
BackgroundA Brief Review of the Current State of Research on the Biological Effects of Weak Magnetic Fields
Shaev, I. A., Novikov, V. V., Yablokova, E. V., & Fesenko, E. E. (2022) · BIOPHYSICS · doi:10.1134/s0006350922020191 · Cited by 10
Immunohistochemical characterization of bipolar cells in four distantly related avian species
Balaji, V., Haverkamp, S., Seth, P. K., Günther, A., Mendoza, E., Schmidt, J., Herrmann, M., Pfeiffer, L. L., Němec, P., Scharff, C., et al. (2022) · The Journal of Comparative Neurology · doi:10.1002/cne.25443 · Cited by 10
“The retina of the European robin is of particular interest because it is very likely that it doesnotonly transduce light intoelectrical signals but also magnetic stimuli (see Introduction; Hore and Mouritsen, 2016).”
BackgroundSelf-citationMitochondrial targeting sequence of magnetoreceptor MagR: More than just targeting
Zhang, Y., 中国科学院合肥物质科学研究院强磁场科学中心, 安. 合. 2., Zhang, P., Wang, J., Zhang, J., Tong, T., Zhou, X., Zhou, Y., Wei, M., Feng, C., et al. (2024) · 动物学研究 · doi:10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.385 · Cited by 9
Sensing of magnetic field effects in radical-pair reactions using a quantum sensor
Khurana, D., Jensen, R. H., Giri, R., Bocquel, J., Andersen, U. L., Berg‐Sørensen, K., & Huck, A. (2024) · Physical Review Research · doi:10.1103/physrevresearch.6.013218 · Cited by 9
Yee, C., Bartölke, R., Görtemaker, K., Schmidt, J., Leberecht, B., Mouritsen, H., & Koch, K. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-79699-z · Cited by 9
“The light-dependent magnetic compass in migratory birds is located in the birds’ retina 5,6,12,45 and is most likely mediated by Cry proteins 2,3,12,14,27 .”
Self-citationEgg, M., & Kietzmann, T. (2024) · Redox Biology · doi:10.1016/j.redox.2024.103483 · Cited by 10
“More recently, its potential in cancer treatment is being explored, with early studies investigating how WEMF may inhibit cancer cell growth and enhance conventional therapies [26,27,39 – 43].”
Q-BiC: A Biocompatible Integrated Chip for in vitro and in vivo Spin-Based Quantum Sensing
Shanahan, L., Belser, S., Hart, J., Gu, Q., Roth, J. R. E., Mechnich, A., Högen, M., Pal, S., Mitchell, T., Jordan, D., et al. (2025) · PRX Life · doi:10.1103/prxlife.3.013016 · Cited by 9
Maestre‐Reyna, M., Hosokawa, Y., Wang, P., Saft, M., Caramello, N., Engilberge, S., Franz-Badur, S., Putu, E. P. G. N., Nakamura, M., Wu, W., et al. (2025) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.adu7247 · Cited by 9
“Simulations suggest that geomagnetic field sensitivity requires RP spin correlation to persist for ~ 1 μ s ( 8 ), with much longer RP lifetimes after loss of spin correlation causing a loss of magnetic field sensitivity.”
Plant quantum biology: The quantum dimension of plant responses to stress
Maffei, M. E. (2025) · Plant Stress · doi:10.1016/j.stress.2025.100930 · Cited by 10
“…colleagues noted that the observed compass performance in animals, particularly regarding sensor acuity, functionality under minimal light conditions, and sensitivity to weak radio frequency magnetic fields, surpasses these theoretical predictions (Hore and Mouritsen, 2016; Kattnig et al., 2016a).”
Monte-Carlo wavefunction approach for the spin dynamics of recombining radicals
Keens, R. H., & Kattnig, D. R. (2020) · New Journal of Physics · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/aba76d · Cited by 11
Electroretinographic study of the magnetic compass in European robins
Astakhova, L. A., Rotov, A. Y., Cherbunin, R. V., Goriachenkov, A. A., Kavokin, K. V., Firsov, M. L., & Chernetsov, N. (2020) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.2507 · Cited by 9
Esmaeilpour, T., Lotfealian, A., Anvari, M., Namavar, M. R., Karbalaei, N., Shahedi, A., Bókkon, I., Zadeh‐Haghighi, H., Simon, C., Salari, V., et al. (2023) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137136 · Cited by 9
Coherences of Photoinduced Electron Spin Qubit Pair States in Photosystem I
Bindra, J. K., Niklas, J., Jeong, Y., Jasper, A. W., Kretzschmar, M., Kern, J. F., Utschig, L. M., & Poluektov, O. G. (2023) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c06658 · Cited by 9
Font, Y. S., Díaz, Y. O., Pappa, M., Thijssen, E., Cuypers, A., Alemán, E. I., & Vandamme, D. (2023) · Algal Research · doi:10.1016/j.algal.2023.103344 · Cited by 9
Singular Value Decomposition Quantum Algorithm for Quantum Biology
Oh, E., Krogmeier, T. J., Schlimgen, A. W., & Head-Marsden, K. (2024) · ACS Physical Chemistry Au · doi:10.1021/acsphyschemau.4c00018 · Cited by 10
“This particular application has also been extensively investigated theoretically, [11–13, 38, 41–43] including a quantum algorithm investigation, [44] making it a good benchmark for the ability of a quantum algorithm to effectively capture a radical pair mechanism, which is prevalent in many other…”
BackgroundLuo, J., Benjamin, P., Gerhards, L., Hogben, H. J., & Hore, P. J. (2024) · Journal of The Royal Society Interface · doi:10.1098/rsif.2024.0133 · Cited by 9
Self-citationAntill, L. M., Takizawa, S., Murata, S., & Woodward, J. R. (2018) · Molecular Physics · doi:10.1080/00268976.2018.1524525 · Cited by 9
A Case Study of Eukaryogenesis: The Evolution of Photoreception by Photolyase/Cryptochrome Proteins
Miles, J. A., Davies, T. A., Hayman, R. D., Lorenzen, G., Taylor, J., Anjarwalla, M., Allen, S. J. R., Graham, J. W. D., & Taylor, P. C. (2020) · Journal of Molecular Evolution · doi:10.1007/s00239-020-09965-x · Cited by 8
The bioenergetics of COVID-19 immunopathology and the therapeutic potential of biophysical radiances
Суразаков, А., Классен, А., & Gizinger, O. A. (2020) · Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112083 · Cited by 9
“Furthermore, the radical pair channel explains synergy of action between light and magnetic field in the enhancement of ATP synthesis, DNA synthesis [58] and light-dependent magnetoreception in birds [59].”
F-cluster: Reaction-induced spin correlation in multi-radical systems
Kattnig, D. R. (2021) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/5.0052573 · Cited by 9
The secrets of cryptochromes: photoreceptors, clock proteins, and magnetic sensors
Bartölke, R., Behrmann, H., Görtemaker, K., Yee, C., Xu, J., Behrmann, E., & Koch, K. (2021) · e-Neuroforum · doi:10.1515/nf-2021-0006 · Cited by 9
Karwinkel, T., Michael Winklhofer, A., Janner, L. E., Brust, V., Hüppop, O., Bairlein, F., & Schmaljohann, H. (2022) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.244473 · Cited by 9
Xu, J., Zhang, Y.-C., Wu, J., Wang, W., Li, Y., Wan, G., Chen, F., Sword, G. A., & Pan, W. (2017) · Insect Science · doi:10.1111/1744-7917.12546 · Cited by 8
“The conserved photolyase homology region (PHR) domain in Cry proteins non-covalently bound a redox-active flavin adenine dinucleotide cofactor (FAD), which absorbed blue light when in its fully oxidized state (Hore & Mouritsen, 2016).”
BackgroundInfluentialHong, G., Pachter, R., & Ritz, T. (2018) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b03493 · Cited by 9
Magnetic Orientation in Migratory Songbirds
Deutschlander, M. E., Muheim, R., & Bairlein, F. (2018) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-809633-8.90099-2 · Cited by 9
Abrahams, G., Štuhec, A., Spreng, V., Henry, R., Kempf, I., James, J., Sechkar, K., Stacey, S., Trelles-Fernandez, V., Antill, L. M., et al. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.11.25.625143 · Cited by 9
“There also remains significant opportunity for mechanistic investigation utilising the wide array of techniques previously applied to biological systems exhibiting MFEs and ESR [40, 44, 47, 55, 84, 85].”
A conceptual framework on the role of magnetic cues in songbird migration ecology
Karwinkel, T., Peter, A., Holland, R. A., Thorup, K., Bairlein, F., & Schmaljohann, H. (2024) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/brv.13082 · Cited by 8
“Currently, there are three sensor types proposed: ( i ) the radical-pair-based mechanism in the eye (Hore & Mouritsen, 2016); ( ii ) a magnetic-particle-based mechanism (Wiltschko et al ., 2006), likely located in the upper beak and innervated by the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve…”
MethodGrinberg, M. A., & Vodeneev, V. (2025) · Planta · doi:10.1007/s00425-025-04610-7 · Cited by 8
“The most universal hypothesis seems to be the perception of the magnetic field due to quantum effects and the mechanism of radical pairs (singlet–triplet interconversion) (Gauger et al. 2011; Maeda et al. 2012; Hore and Mouritsen 2016).”
Magnetically Stimulated Myogenesis Recruits a CRY2-TRPC1 Photosensitive Signaling Axis
Iversen, J. N., Tai, Y. K., Wu, K. Y., Wong, C. J. K., Lim, H. Y., & Franco‐Obregón, A. (2025) · Cells · doi:10.3390/cells14030231 · Cited by 8
A new data-driven paradigm for the study of avian migratory navigation
Demšar, U., Zein, B., & Long, J. (2025) · Movement Ecology · doi:10.1186/s40462-025-00543-8 · Cited by 9
“This includes the search for the receptor that could sense geomagnetic field, with three proposed options: the photoreceptor radical pair hypothesis [37], the magnetite-based sensor [38] and a possibility of using electromagnetic induction to sense the field [39].”
Optically detected and radio wave-controlled spin chemistry in flavoproteins
Meng, K., Nie, L., Berger, J., von Grafenstein, N. R., Weber, S., Essen, L.-O., Rizzato, R., Einholz, C., Schleicher, E., & Bucher, D. (2026) · Nature Biotechnology · doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03158-5 · Cited by 8
A hybrid compass mechanism combining radical pairs and magnetite crystals
Hore, P. J. (2026) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2524093123 · Cited by 8
“Matters are not helped by the dipolar coupling of the two electron spins (22), by spin relaxation (23, 24), by suboptimal reaction kinetics (6), or by imperfect protein alignment (25), all of which can further attenuate the magnetic response.”
Self-citationMagnetic resonance control of spin-correlated radical pair dynamics in vivo
Burd, S. C., Bagheri, N., Condon, A. F., Ingaramo, M., Mondal, S., Dowlatshahi, D. P., Summers, J. A., Mukherjee, S., York, A., Soichi Wakatsuki, A., et al. (2026) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10282-4 · Cited by 8
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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