| Valentyn Prokhorenko of the University of Toronto and colleagues investigated whether the wave property of matter could influence the chemistry of retinal, a molecule in the protein bacteriorhodopsin. |
| Even native, isolated pigment proteins like bacteriorhodopsin have been investigated for their applicability as optical switches. |
| Another anion, azide, is used in the study of bacteriorhodopsin mutants as a substitute for proton donor or acceptor when they are altered in the protein. |
| Although this can be visualized for bacteriorhodopsin, the calculation is a large computational undertaking. |
| Upon replacement of chloride ion with azide, the fast electric signal changes its sign from positive to negative, and becomes similar to that detected in bacteriorhodopsin. |
| Mutant of bacteriorhodopsin, characterized in that aspartic acid is mutated to asparagine in positions 85 and 96 of the opsin of a wild-type strain of Halobacteria. |
