Natural alternating fields associated with living cells

Abstract Living cells produce natural ac fields. This is shown by several experimental approaches. These are (1) the direct instrumental detection, as on yeast cells [1,2] and on the alga, Netrium Digitus [2]; (2) cellular spin resonance of lone cells [3–5]; and (3) dielectrophoresis, wherein the accumulation by the cells of tiny particles (ca. 2 μm diam) of either high or low permittivity is compared [4,6–8]. The oscillations are evident in a wide spectrum of cell types ranging from primitive bacteria to man's. In one species where cell morphology links readily to phases in the life cycle, it is observed that the electrical oscillations appear to be maximal at or near mitosis. This provokes questions as to why, how, and when such natural oscillations occur. To the question, “Do these natural electrical oscillations reflect essential or merely unnecessary cellular events?,” one is led to assume that they reflected needed processes, for they have persisted through the long evolutionary corridors of time. If, for example, they reflect events necessary to the cellular reproduction sequence, this further implies that there may be an electrical aspect to cellular growth and its control. These experimental findings lead to a testable theory: “cellular reproduction requires electrical oscillations.” Immediate tests of this idea are available in discussing the phenomenon of “contact” or “density” inhibition of cell growth, and in the four phases of mammalian life when cell growth occurs, i.e., during embryonic, normal somatic replacement, wound healing, and oncogenic growth. Several mechanisms whereby such electrical oscillations may arise in living cells are suggested and discussed.