Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
Magnetic field effects as a result of the radical pair mechanism are unlikely in redox enzymes.
Messiha HL, Wongnate T, Chaiyen P, Jones AR, Scrutton NS · 2015
View Original AbstractLaboratory tests found no evidence that magnetic fields disrupt crucial cellular enzymes through the proposed radical pair mechanism.
Plain English Summary
Researchers investigated whether magnetic fields could affect important cellular enzymes called flavoenzymes by disrupting chemical reactions that involve unpaired electrons (radical pairs). Despite testing multiple enzyme systems under controlled laboratory conditions, they found no evidence that magnetic field exposure altered the speed or efficiency of these crucial cellular reactions. This suggests that the radical pair mechanism - a proposed biological pathway for how magnetic fields might affect living cells - may not operate in these fundamental enzymatic processes.
Study Details
we have investigated the magnetic field sensitivity of a number of flavoenzymes with important cellular roles.
We also investigated the magnetic field sensitivity of a model system involving stepwise reduction o...
Under the experimental conditions used, magnetic field sensitivity was not observed in the reaction ...
Although widely implicated in radical pair chemistry, we conclude that thermally driven, flavoenzyme-catalysed reactions are unlikely to be influenced by exposure to external magnetic fields.
Show BibTeX
@article{hl_2015_magnetic_field_effects_as_2856,
author = {Messiha HL and Wongnate T and Chaiyen P and Jones AR and Scrutton NS},
title = {Magnetic field effects as a result of the radical pair mechanism are unlikely in redox enzymes.},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1098/rsif.2014.1155},
url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsif.2014.1155},
}