RSS feeds
РусскийEnglish
Issue 4, 2024
Volume year page
Issues Authors PACS Subscription For authors

Issues

 / 

2003

 / 

March

←  →

Reviews of topical problems


Effects of weak magnetic fields on biological systems: physical aspects

 a,  b
a Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Vavilova 38, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
b Semenov Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Kosygina, 4, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation

The effect of weak magnetic fields on biosystems is the subject matter of the science of magnetobiology. There are objective factors, due to theory lagging far behind experiment, that are hindering the development of this science. Academic interest in the subject is restrained by the fact that experimental data lack a clear physical explanation. Besides, there is a strong imbalance in how physics and biology are involved in magnetobiology, the former being still in infancy in this respect. It is this imbalance which is currently the driving force for the development of the theory of magnetobiology. This brief analytical review focuses on the physical aspects of magnetobiological research. The task of magnetobiology is to explore the biological effects of weak magnetic fields and to understand mechanisms behind these effects. Magnetobiology is part of a more general issue of the biological impact of weak and hyperweak physico-chemical factors. It is believed that such factors operate even below the trigger threshold for protective biological mechanisms and are therefore capable of accumulating at the subcellular level. The so-called ’kT-problem’ is discussed in detail, and the interference mechanisms of the molecular gyroscope and of molecular states in an idealized protein cavity are suggested as candidate solutions.

Fulltext pdf (692 KB)
Fulltext is also available at DOI: 10.1070/PU2003v046n03ABEH001283
PACS: 82.39.−k, 87.10.+e, 87.50.Mn (all)
DOI: 10.1070/PU2003v046n03ABEH001283
URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2003/3/b/
000184112900002
Citation: Binhi V N, Savin A V "Effects of weak magnetic fields on biological systems: physical aspects" Phys. Usp. 46 259–291 (2003)
BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks

Оригинал: Бинги В Н, Савин А В «Физические проблемы действия слабых магнитных полей на биологические системы» УФН 173 265–300 (2003); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0173.200303b.0265

References (144) ↓ Cited by (111) Similar articles (20)

  1. Vvedenskii V L, Ozhogin V I Sverkhchuvstvitel’naya Magnitometriya i Biomagnetizm (Hypersensitive Magnetometry and Biomagnetism, Moscow: Nauka, 1986)
  2. Devyatkov N D Usp. Fiz. Nauk 110 453 (1973) [Sov. Phys. Usp. 16 568 (1974)]
  3. Grigor’ev Yu G Magnitobiologiya (1) 6 (1994)
  4. Pool R Science 249 1378 (1990)
  5. Nakagawa M J. Occup. Health 39 18 (1997)
  6. Warnke U, Popp F A, in Electromagnetic Bio-Information: Proc. of the Symp., Marburg, Sept. 5, 1977 (Eds F A Popp et al., München: Urban und Schwarzenberg, 1979) p. 195
  7. Presman A S Elektromagnitnye Polya i Zhivaya Priroda (Electromagnetic Fields and Living Nature, Moscow: Nauka, 1968) [Translated into English: Electromagnetic Fields and Life (New York: Plenum Press, 1970)]
  8. Piruzyan L A, Kuznetsov A N Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR Ser. Biol. (6) 805 (1983)
  9. Wilson B W, Stevens R G, Anderson L E (Eds) Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields: The Question of Cancer (Columbus, OH: Battelle Press, 1990)
  10. Simon N J Biological Effects of Static Magnetic Fields: A Review (Boulder, CO: Intern. Cryogenic Materials Commission, 1992)
  11. Berg H, Zhang L Electro Magnetobiol. 12 147 (1993)
  12. Adey W R J. Cell. Biochem. 51 410 (1993)
  13. Blank M (Ed.) Electromagnetic Fields: Biological Interactions and Mechanisms (Adv. in Chem. Ser., Vol. 250, Washington, DC: American Chemical Soc., 1995)
  14. Goodman E M, Greenebaum B, Marron M T, in Intern. Rev. of Cytology. A Survey of Cell Biology Vol. 158 (Eds K W Jeon, J Jarvik, New York: Academic Press, 1995) p. 279
  15. Sagan L A Electric and Magnetic Fields: Invisible Risks? (Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publ., 1996)
  16. Polk C, Postow E (Eds) Handbook of Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1996)
  17. Stevens R G, Wilson B W, Anderson L E (Eds) The Melatonin Hypothesis: Breast Cancer and Use of Electric Power (Columbus, OH: Battelle Press, 1997)
  18. Repacholi M H, Greenebaum B Bioelectromagnetics 20 133 (1999)
  19. Carpenter D O, Ayrapetyan S (Eds) Biological Effects of Electric and Magnetic Fields Vol. 1 Sources and Mechanisms (San Diego: Academic Press, 1994)
  20. Binhi V N Magnetobiology: Underlying Physical Problems (San Diego: Academic Press, 2002)
  21. Bersani F (Ed.) Electricity and Magnetism in Biology and Medicine (New York: Kluwer Acad. / Plenum Publ., 1999)
  22. Kholodov Yu A Mozg v Elektromagnitnykh Polyakh (Brain in Electromagnetic Fields, Moscow: Nauka, 1982)
  23. Zhadin M N Bioelectromagnetics 22 27 (2001)
  24. Kuznetsov A N, Vanag V K Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR Ser. Biol. (6) 814 (1987)
  25. Vanag V K, Kuznetsov A N Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR Ser. Biol. (2) 215 (1988)
  26. Adair R K Phys. Rev. A 43 1039 (1991)
  27. Binhi V N Electro Magnetobiol. 20 47 (2001)
  28. Polk C IEEE Trans. Educ. 34 243 (1991)
  29. Adey W R, Sheppard A R, in Mechanistic Approaches to Interactions of Electric and Electromagnetic Fields with Living Systems (Eds M Blank, E Findl, New York: Plenum Press, 1987) p. 365
  30. Grundler W et al. Naturwissenschaften 79 551 (1992)
  31. Moggia E, Chiabrera A, Bianco B J. Appl. Phys. 82 4669 (1997)
  32. Binhi V N, Savin A V Phys. Rev. E 65 051912 (2002)
  33. Blackman C F et al. Bioelectromagnetics 15 239 (1994)
  34. Blackman C F, Benane S G, House D E Bioelectromagnetics 16 387 (1995)
  35. McLeod B R, Smith S D, Liboff A R J. Bioelectricity 6 153 (1987)
  36. Kholodov Yu A, Lebedeva N N Reaktsii Nervnoi Sistemy Cheloveka na Elektromagnitnye Polya (Reactions of Human Nervous System to Electromagnetic Fields, Moscow: Nauka, 1992)
  37. Pickard W F, Moros E G Bioelectromagnetics 22 97 (2001)
  38. Kaiser F Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 41 3 (1996)
  39. Galvanovskis J, Sandblom J Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 46 161 (1998)
  40. Makeyev V M Biofizika 38 194 (1993) [Biophysics 38 189 (1993)]
  41. Kruglikov I L, Dertinger H Bioelectromagnetics 15 539 (1994)
  42. Bezrukov S M, Vodyanoy I Nature 388 633 (1997)
  43. Simonov A N, Livshits V A, Kuznetsov A N Biofizika 31 777 (1986)
  44. Thompson C J et al. Bioelectromagnetics 21 455 (2000)
  45. Jungerman R L, Rosenblum B J. Theor. Biol. 87 25 (1980)
  46. Pilla A A, Nasser P R, Kaufman J J Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 35 63 (1994)
  47. Astumian R D, Weaver J C, Adair R K Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92 3740 (1995)
  48. Barnes F S Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 47 207 (1998)
  49. Kirschvink J L, Jones D S, MacFadden B J (Eds) Magnetite Biomineralization and Magnetoreception in Organisms: A New Biomagnetism (Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 5, New York: Plenum Press, 1985) [Translated into Russian (Moscow: Mir, 1989)]
  50. Kobayashi A K, Kirschvink J L, Nesson M H Nature 374 123 (1995)
  51. Chiabrera A, Grattarola M, Viviani R Bioelectromagnetics 5 173 (1984)
  52. Chiabrera A et al., in Interactions Between Electromagnetic Fields and Cells (NATO ASI Series, Ser. A, Vol. 97, Eds A Chiabrera, C Nicolini, H P Schwan, New York: Plenum Press, 1985) p. 253
  53. Polk C J. Biol. Phys. 14 3 (1986)
  54. Cope F W Physiol. Chem. Phys. 13 231 (1981)
  55. Achimowicz J Radio Sci. 17 23S (1982)
  56. Costato M, Milani M, Spinoglio L Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 41 27 (1996)
  57. Davydov A S, in Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication (Eds M-W Ho, F-A Popp, U Warnke, Singapore: World Scientific, 1994) p. 411
  58. Liboff A R et al. J. Bioelectricity 6 13 (1987)
  59. Lednev V V Bioelectromagnetics 12 71 (1991)
  60. Binhi V N Biofizika 40 677 (1995)
  61. Chiabrera A et al., in Electromagnetics in Medicine and Biology (Eds C T Brighton, S R Pollack, San Francisco: San Francisco Press, 1991) p. 21
  62. Belyaev I Y, Matronchik A Y, Alipov Y D, in Proc. of the 1994 Intern. Symp. on Charge and Field Effects in Biosystems – 4, Richmond, Virginia, June 20 – 24, 1994 (Eds M J Allen, S F Cleary, A E Sowers, Singapore: World Scientific, 1994) p. 174
  63. Lednev V V Biofizika 41 224 (1966)
  64. Zhadin M N Biofizika 41 832 (1996)
  65. Binhi V N Electro Magnetobiol. 16 203 (1997)
  66. Binhi V N, in Electricity and Magnetism in Biology and Medicine (Ed. F Bersani, New York: Kluwer Acad. / Plenum Publ., 1999) p. 417
  67. Binhi V N Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 45 73 (1998)
  68. Binhi V N, Goldman R J BBA – Gen. Subjects 1474 147 (2000)
  69. Binhi V N Bioelectromagnetics 21 34 (2000)
  70. Binhi V N, Alipov Ye D, Belyaev I Ya Bioelectromagnetics 22 79 (2001)
  71. Buchachenko A L, Sagdeev R Z, Salikhov K M Magnitnye i Spinovye Effekty v Khimicheskikh Reaktsiyakh (Magnetic and Spin Effects in Chemical Reactions, Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1978)
  72. Steiner U E, Ulrich T Chem. Rev. 89 51 (1989)
  73. Brocklehurst B, McLauchlan K A Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 69 3 (1996)
  74. Fröhlich H Int. J. Quantum Chem. 2 641 (1968)
  75. Davydov A S Solitony v Molekulyarnykh Sistemakh (Solitons in Molecular Systems, Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1984) [Translated into English (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1985)]
  76. Wu T M Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 41 19 (1996)
  77. Kirschvink J L et al. Bioelectromagnetics 13 (Suppl. 1) 101 (1992)
  78. Ivanitskii G R, Medvinskii A B, Tsyganov M A Usp. Fiz. Nauk 161 (4) 13 (1991) [Sov. Phys. Usp. 34 289 (1991)]
  79. Lerchl A, Nonaka K O, Reiter R J J. Pineal Res. 10 109 (1991)
  80. Schimmelpfeng J, Dertinger H Bioelectromagnetics 18 177 (1997)
  81. Juutilainen J P Z. Naturforsch. C 41 1111 (1986)
  82. Liboff A R, Smith S D, McLeod B R, in Mechanistic Approaches to Interactions of Electric and Electromagnetic Fields with Living Systems (Eds M Blank, E Findl, New York: Plenum Press, 1987) p. 109
  83. Ross S M Bioelectromagnetics 11 27 (1990)
  84. Blackman C F, Benane S G, House D E FASEB J. 7 801 (1993)
  85. Jenrow K A, Smith C H, Liboff A R Bioelectromagnetics 16 106 (1995)
  86. Prato F S et al. FASEB J. 9 807 (1995)
  87. Ivanitskii G R, Krinskii V I, Sel’kov E E Matematicheskaya Biofizika Kletki (Mathematical Biophysics of the Cell, Moscow: Nauka, 1978)
  88. Ivanitskii G R, Medvinskii A B, Tsyganov M A Usp. Fiz. Nauk 164 1041 (1994) [Phys. Usp. 37 961 (1994)]
  89. Medvinskii A B et al. Usp. Fiz. Nauk 172 31 (2002) [Phys. Usp. 45 27 (2002)]
  90. Fröhlich H Phys. Lett. A 26 402 (1968)
  91. Popp F A et al. (Eds) Electromagnetic Bio-Information: Proc. of the Symp., Marburg, Sept. 5, 1977 (München: Urban und Schwarzenberg, 1979)
  92. Zhadin M N, Fesenko E E Biomed. Sci. 1 245 (1990)
  93. Edmonds D T Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 30 3 (1993)
  94. Wiesenfeld K, Moss F Nature 373 33 (1995)
  95. McNamara B, Wiesenfeld K Phys. Rev. A 39 4854 (1989)
  96. Liboff A R J. Biol. Phys. 13 99 (1985)
  97. Karnaukhov A V Biofizika 39 1009 (1994)
  98. Ivanitskii G R et al. Usp. Fiz. Nauk 168 1221 (1998) [Phys. Usp. 41 1115 (1998)]
  99. Chiabrera A, Bianco B, in Mechanistic Approaches to Interactions of Electric and Electromagnetic Fields with Living Systems (Eds M Blank, E Findl, New York: Plenum Press, 1987) p. 79
  100. Aleksandrov E B, Khvostenko G I, Chaika M P Interferentsiya Atomnykh Sostoyanii (Interference of Atomic States, Moscow: Nauka, 1991) [Translated into English (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1993)]
  101. Blanchard J P, Blackman C F Bioelectromagnetics 15 217 (1994)
  102. Binhi V N Biofizika 43 338 (1997) [Biophysics 42 317 (1997)]
  103. Novikov V V, Zhadin M N Biofizika 39 45 (1994) [Biophysics 39 41 (1994)]
  104. Fesenko E E, Novikov V V, Shvetsov Yu P Biofizika 42 739 (1997) [Biophysics 42 739 (1997)]
  105. Youbicier-Simo B J, Lebecq J C, Bastide M, in 20th Bioelectromagnetics Soc. Annual Meeting, June 7 – 11, 1998, St. Pete’s Beach, Florida, USA, Meeting Abstracts, P-16B, p. 102
  106. Belyaev I Y et al. Bioelectromagnetics 17 312 (1996)
  107. Jacobson J I J. Theor. Biol. 149 97 (1991)
  108. Binhi V N Biofizika 40 561 (1995)
  109. Broun G R, Il’inskii O B Fiziologiya Elektroretseptorov (Physiology of Electroreceptors, Leningrad: Nauka, 1984)
  110. Kalmijn A J Science 218 916 (1982)
  111. Prigogine I From Being to Becoming: Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences (San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, 1980) [Translated into Russian (Moscow: Nauka, 1985)]
  112. Chernavskii D S Sinergetika i Informatsiya: Dinamicheskaya Teoriya Informatsii (Synergetics and Information: Dynamics Theory of Information, Moscow: Nauka, 2001)
  113. Winfree A T Nature 371 233 (1994)
  114. Plyusnina T Yu et al. Biofizika 39 345 (1994)
  115. Eichwald C, Kaiser F Bioelectromagnetics 16 75 (1995)
  116. Goldbetter A, Dupont G, Berridge M J Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87 1461 (1990)
  117. Horsthemke W, Lefever R Noise-Induced Transitions: Theory and Applications in Physics, Chemistry and Biology (Springer Series in Synergetics, Vol. 15, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1984) [Translated into Russian (Moscow: Mir, 1987)]
  118. Benzi R, Sutera A, Vulpiani A J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 14 L453 (1981)
  119. Pasechnik V I Biofizika 30 858 (1985)
  120. Walcott C, Gould J L, Kirschvink J L Science 205 1027 (1979)
  121. Beason R C, Brennan W J J. Exp. Biol. 125 49 (1986)
  122. Wiltschko W et al., in Biophysical Effects of Steady Magnetic Fields (Springer Proc. in Physics, Vol. 11, Eds G Maret, J Kiepenheuer, N Boccara, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1986) p. 154
  123. Gould J L, Kirschvink J L, Deffeyes K S Science 201 1026 (1978)
  124. Gould J L et al. J. Exp. Biol. 86 1 (1980)
  125. Blakemore R P Science 190 377 (1975)
  126. Frankel R B, Blakemore R P, Wolfe R S Science 203 1355 (1979)
  127. Salikhov K M et al. Spin Polarization and Magnetic Effects in Radical Reactions (Studies in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Vol. 22, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1984)
  128. Slichter C P Principles of Magnetic Resonance 2nd ed. (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1978)
  129. Grissom C B Chem. Rev. 95 3 (1995)
  130. Romanovskii Yu M, Stepanova N V, Chernavskii D S Matematicheskaya Biofizika (Mathematical Biophysics, Moscow: Nauka, 1984)
  131. Satyshur K A et al. J. Biol. Chem. 263 1628 (1988)
  132. Babu Y S, Bugg C E, Cook W J J. Mol. Biol. 204 191 (1988)
  133. Landau L D, Lifshitz E M Kvantovaya Mekhanika: Nerelyativistskaya Teoriya (Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory, Moscow: Nauka, 1974) [Translated into English (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1977)]
  134. Williams M A, Goodfellow J M, Thornton J M Protein Sci. 3 1224 (1994)
  135. Davydov A S Ukr. Fiz. Zh. 32 352 (1987)
  136. Savin A V, Zolotaryuk A V Physica D 68 59 (1993)
  137. Blackman C F, Benane S G, House D E Bioelectromagnetics 12 173 (1991)
  138. Alipov Y D, Belyaev I Y Bioelectromagnetics 17 384 (1996)
  139. Glaser R, Michalsky M, Schramek R Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. 47 311 (1998)
  140. Blackman C F et al. FASEB J. 9 547 (1995)
  141. Garcia-Sancho J et al. Bioelectromagnetics 15 579 (1994)
  142. Lednev V V et al. Dokl. Ross. Akad. Nauk 348 830 (1996) [Dokl. Biophys. 346 – 348 40 (1996)]
  143. Lednev V V et al. Biofizika 41 815 (1996)
  144. Gill J C Phys. Rev. E (2003, in press)
© 1918–2024 Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk
Email: ufn@ufn.ru Editorial office contacts About the journal Terms and conditions