Lewis Antill

Affiliation: University of Oxford
Research Interests: Spin Chemistry, Magnetoreception, Photochemistry, Molecular Biology, Microscopy
Title: Developmentof microspectroscopy and simulation software for investigating quantum effectsin biology
Abstract: Flavinsare found throughout nature and participate in a wide range of biochemicalreactions as coenzymes and photoreceptors. Mechanisms involving UV-/blue-lightabsorbing flavoproteins include DNA repair by DNA photolyase and theentrainment of circadian rhythms by cryptochrome, both of which utilise an FADchromophore. Cryptochrome is also central to the chemical magnetoreceptionhypothesis, which operates through spin-correlated radical pairs (SCRPs)generated by a photoinduced electron transfer from a nearby residue to the FADcofactor molecule. The process by which these cryptochrome RPs respond to anexternal magnetic field (MF) is via the radical pair mechanism (RPM), and lowfield effects (LFEs) may allow plants and animals to detect fields as weak asthe geomagnetic field (∼50 μT). I will introduce radical pair theory and discuss ourmicrospectroscopic techniques and software for investigating these (and other)quantum phenomena.