Thankfully, the pigment responsible for darkening our hair, skin, and eyes moonlights as a clean-up crew, mopping up one such dangerous compound before it accumulates into damaging clumps.
An investigation by researchers from the University of Tübingen in Germany and Yale University has revealed the removal process is somewhat unusual as far as biochemistry goes, relying upon a strange quirk of quantum-like behavior.
Lining the back wall of our eyeball's inner surface is a shag-pile rug of light-reactive cells called the retina. Every fiber in this carpet is packed with pancake-like stacks of discs containing a crucial substance that catches photons of light, starting a chain of reactions that results in a nervous impulse the brain interprets as sight.
The very first step in this conversion process is a surprisingly dangerous one. The substance, called retinal, contorts into a shape that interferes with the cell's functions, effectively becoming a toxin.
Source: www.sciencealert.com
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