SSS 2011-06-23
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(六)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute?
Birds and sea turtles can migrate thousands of miles, by reading the Earth's magnetic cues. But we too might have magnetic sensing abilities—in our eyes. So says a study in the journal Nature Communications.
Previous studies suggest long-distance migrators—and even fruit flies—pick up magnetic fields with the help of a light-sensitive protein called "cryptochrome." We produce cryptochrome too—without it, our circadian clocks would break. Human cryptochrome doesn't require light to function, though—and it doesn't seem to give us a phenomenal sensitivity to magnetic fields. But can it do more than keep the circadian clock ticking?
To find out, researchers took out fruit flies' usual cryptochrome gene 1 and inserted the human version. And the transgenic flies had no problem navigating 2 a magnetic maze 3 when exposed to light—indicating the human protein can still serve as a light-sensitive magnetic sensor 4.
We happen to have a lot of cryptochrome in our retinas—ideally situated 5 to receive light. Which suggests we might be able to see magnetic fields in some way. On the other hand, evolution might have just given cryptochrome a new job in new organisms. So don't throw away your GPS.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.
- A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
- The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
- These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网
- He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
- She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。