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Mechanisms of the target response to magnetic fields and their correlation with the biological complexity

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Abstract

The present contribution points to the mechanisms of bioresponse caused by magnetic fields, paying attention to their action not only at the ionic, molecular or macromolecular levels but also at the levels of cells, tissues and organisms. The significance of findings concerning the magnetic-field dependence of cell proliferation, necrosis or apoptosis and cell volume or membrane fluidity is judged by comparing the results obtained in a solenoid, where a magnetic field can be added to the geomagnetic field, with those obtained in a magnetically shielded room, where the magnetic fields can be attenuated or null. This comparative criterion was particularly required when the differences found between the data provided by experimental samples and the data provided by control samples are small per se, as observed in estimating the magnetic-field dependence of expression of single genes or the magnetic-field dependence of total genome replication, transcription and translation. The report analyzes the magnetic-field dependence of the interactions between host animal cells and infecting bacteria and, in the framework of studies on the origin and adaptation of life on Earth, theoretical insights paving the way to elucidating the mechanisms of magnetic-field interactions with biosystems of different orders of organization are considered from the viewpoint of the “biological windows” thermodynamics. Thus, analogously to what is known for ionizing radiations, an inverse correlation emerged between the intensity of given magnetic fields and the biological complexity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome, 00133, Italy

    Pietro Volpe

  2. Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

    Tamilla Eremenko

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  1. Pietro Volpe
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  2. Tamilla Eremenko
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Correspondence to Pietro Volpe.

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Volpe, P., Eremenko, T. Mechanisms of the target response to magnetic fields and their correlation with the biological complexity. Environmentalist 27, 387–393 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-007-9085-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-007-9085-9

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