The humble one-celled alga that helped scientists win the Nobel prize

Chlamydomonas and its light-sensing protein help show how memories, feelings and behaviour form in our brains A tiny alga has helped show how memories, feelings and behaviour form in our brains, in research by three scientists awarded the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine this month.

Chlamydomonas is a one-celled alga that swims towards light using a light-sensing protein called channelrhodopsin, remarkably similar to the rhodopsin in our eyes.

When the channelrhodopsin detects light, electrically charged ions rush into the cell from outside, triggering an electrical signal incredibly fast that tells the alga to move with its hair-like motor.

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