Biochemical and biomolecular effects induced by a static magnetic field in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Evidence for oxidative stress.
Kthiri A, Hidouri S, Wiem T, Jeridi R, Sheehan D, Landouls A · 2019
View Original AbstractStatic magnetic fields at 250 millitesla caused oxidative stress in yeast cells, demonstrating biological activity even in simple organisms.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to a strong static magnetic field of 250 millitesla for 6 to 9 hours to study biological effects. They found the magnetic field initially reduced yeast growth and survival, then triggered oxidative stress - a harmful cellular condition where damaging molecules overwhelm the cell's natural defenses. The study demonstrated that even simple organisms like yeast respond to magnetic field exposure with measurable biological changes.
Why This Matters
This research matters because it demonstrates that static magnetic fields can trigger oxidative stress in living organisms at the cellular level. The 250 millitesla exposure used here is roughly 5,000 times stronger than Earth's natural magnetic field, comparable to what you might encounter very close to powerful permanent magnets or certain medical devices like MRI machines. What makes this study particularly significant is that it shows biological effects in one of the simplest eukaryotic organisms we study. The fact that even yeast cells mount a stress response to magnetic field exposure suggests these fields are biologically active. While we can't directly extrapolate from yeast to humans, this adds to the growing body of evidence that magnetic fields interact with living systems in measurable ways.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 250 mG
- Exposure Duration
- 6 and 9 h
Exposure Context
This study used 250 mG for magnetic fields:
- 12.5Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 2.5Mx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an applied SMF could induce biological effects on growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and then to probe biochemical and bio-molecular responses.
We found a decrease in growth and viability under SMF (250mT) after 6h with a significant decrease i...
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2019_biochemical_and_biomolecular_effects_402,
author = {Kthiri A and Hidouri S and Wiem T and Jeridi R and Sheehan D and Landouls A},
title = {Biochemical and biomolecular effects induced by a static magnetic field in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Evidence for oxidative stress.},
year = {2019},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209843},
}