There have been a growing number of researches indicating the effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) on living organisms. Here we propose a mechanism to explain how interactions with energy dozens of magnitudes below kBT are not being masked by thermal noise.

Grounded on the previously discovered phenomenon of "Radical Pair Mechanism" (RPM), first, we introduce a scheme that suggests how applying a low-intensity magnetic field of the order of a few tens of milliTeslas can alter the superoxide production rate at Qo site of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1. Next, a reaction-diffusion model was used to show how the mentioned superoxide production change can raise the whole cellular ROS level via mitochondrial network related amplification. Finally, to evaluate the model experimentally, Fluorescence microscopy was used to observe the ROS concentration (DCF dye intensity) and mitochondrial potential (TMRE dye intensity) variations while using magnetic fields with different frequencies and intensities.



Our RPM proposal is wellbacked by a recent experimental finding that indicates changes in mitochondrial electron transport chain ROS production under the effect of magnetic fields. Mitochondrial ROS production level is escalated in cancerous cells through mutations, which in turn can contribute to the transformation of healthy cells into tumors. The results of the model reveal how an alternating magnetic field can amplify the change in superoxide production in such cells via two modes: Either by inducing a whole cellular ROS oscillation in the case of the cells with borderline mitochondrial ROS level or by synchronizing the mitochondria in the cells with asynchronous mitochondrial ROS oscillation through a resonance effect. Finally, the proposed model is in good agreement with our recent experimental fluorescence microscopy study in which we observed frequency-dependent changes in both mitochondrial membrane potential and ROS level under the effect of alternating magnetic fields.

As a short presentation of a number of performed and ongoing theoretical and experimental researches, this study proposes an interesting novel application of quantum biology, and specifically, RPM mechanism in all of mammalian cells.


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