photoactivation

[ foh-toh-ak-tuh-vey-shuhn ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. the activation or control of a chemical, chemical reaction, or organism by light, as the activation of chlorophyll by sunlight during photosynthesis.

Other Words From

• photo·active adjective
• photo·ac·tivi·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of photoactivation¹

1920–25; photo- + activation ( def )

Example Sentences

In the past few years, scientists have developed ‘photoactivation’ methods that allow protein functions to be switched on by light1,2.

From Nature

Writing in Nature, Wang et al.3 now describe a photoactivation strategy that is both broadly applicable and minimally perturbs normal protein functions.

From Nature

Approaches for the photoactivation and photoinhibition of proteins are available, but it is often difficult to apply these without modifying some of the proteins’ activities.

From Nature

In other photoactivation methods, a key amino-acid residue in the active site is identified and replaced by a modified version of that residue.

From Nature

The most obvious effect on photoactivation of PV cells is the reduction in the firing of pyramidal cells.

From Nature