In my day, you could get a faculty job with zero post-doc papers, as in the case of yours truly; but now, the CV of a successful applicant looks like that of a newly minted full professor from olden times.
Brandeis is so fast and loose and informal, I didn't have any problem offering a history course as a biologist. The barriers would be far more formidable, unscalable, at other institutions. But this is a user-friendly place. It's 'Shmedrik University' - that's a Yiddish word for even worse than schlemiel.
Cryptochrome harnesses the energy of incoming blue light, but other molecules are probably needed to absorb light of other colors.