opsin

American  

[op-sin] / ˈɒp sɪn /

noun

Biochemistry.

1. any of several compounds that form the protein component of the light-sensitive retina pigment, rhodopsin.

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opsin British  

/ ˈɒpsɪn /

noun

1. the protein that together with retinene makes up the purple visual pigment rhodopsin

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Etymology

Origin of opsin

First recorded in 1950–55; probably back formation from rhodopsin

Example Sentences

First, they introduce a genetic modification that causes neurons to produce a light-sensitive protein called opsin, the same type of protein that photoreceptors in the eye use to detect light.

From Science Daily

In 2018, researchers found that hogfish skin expressed a gene for an opsin protein, which is the same kind of protein that senses color in the retinas of eyes.

From Science Magazine

In a 2018 study, Schweikert's team found hogfish possess an opsin specifically sensitive to blue light in their skin, she said.

From Salon

The genes that code for each opsin has seven sites in the gene that are polymorphic: They can have different letters of DNA.

From Scientific American

He received an injection in his worse eye of a harmless virus called an adeno-associated virus, which carried the gene for an opsin from algae.

From Science Magazine