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Electromagnetic fields may act directly on DNA
Author(s) -
Blank Martin,
Goodman Reba
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4644(19991201)75:3<369::aid-jcb2>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - magnetic field , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , dna , electromagnetic field , heat shock protein , fight or flight response , enzyme , gene expression , biophysics , physics , biology , genetics , nuclear magnetic resonance , quantum mechanics
A wide variety of environmental stimuli induce the expression of stress response genes, including high temperatures, hypoxia, heavy metal ions, and amino acid analogs. Stress genes are also induced by low frequency magnetic fields. The cellular response to magnetic fields is activated by unusually weak stimuli, and involves pathways only partially associated with heat shock stress. Since magnetic fields interact with moving charges, as we have shown in enzymes, it is possible that magnetic fields stimulate the stress response by interacting directly with moving electrons in DNA. In this paper, we review several lines of evidence that support this hypothesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 75:369–374, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.