What opens the pupils?
2003/01/13 Elhuyar Zientzia
When the light intensity changes, the pupils expand or close. They have now discovered that the protein called melanopsin is responsible for these movements.
It is surprising that so far biologists believed that this movement is due to cylindrical cells. But melanopsin is not expressed in those cells, but in others that transport the signal to the brain. Pupils are also controlled by cones and cylindrical, but they are not the main causes of this process.
The experiments were conducted by biologists from the Imperial Colledge in London. Some mice have removed the gene that indicates melanopsin and have seen that mice do not properly close pupils when they suddenly receive a high intensity light. Scientists have found out what type of cells the gene manifests by replacing the melanopsin gene with that of a colorful protein.
Gai honi buruzko eduki gehiago
Elhuyarrek garatutako teknologia
