Magnetobiology (eBook)

Underlying Physical Problems

Vladimir N. Binhi (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2002 | 1. Auflage
473 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-08-053573-9 (ISBN)

Infos

"People are immersed in electromagnetic fields from such sources as power lines, domestic appliances, mobile phones, and even electrical storms. All living beings sense electric fields, but the physical origins of the phenomenon are still unclear. Magnetobiology considers the effects of electromagnetic fields on living organisms. It provides a comprehensive review of relevant experimental data and theoretical concepts, and discusses all major modern hypotheses on the physical nature of magnetobiological effects. It also highlights some problems that have yet to be solved and points out new avenues for research.

Why do some people feel unwell during a lightning storm?
Why is there a correlation between the level of electromagnetic background and the incidence of cancer?
Why do so many medical centers use electromagnetic exposures to treat a wide variety of disorders in humans?
The international scientific community is extremely interested in a theory of magnetobiology and the answers to these and other questions, as evidenced by the growing number of research associations in the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has named electromagnetic contamination in occupational and residential areas as a stress factor for human beings.

This book stands out among recent texts on magnetobiology because it draws on a strong foundation of empirical and theoretical evidence to explain the various effects of magnetic fields on the human body. It contains the first comprehensive collection of experimental data bearing physical information, frequency and amplitude/power spectra, and original research data on how electromagnetic fields interfere with ions and molecules inside the proteins of living organisms.

?Introduction is written so that it will be understandable to a wide scientific community regardless of their specialisation
?First comprehensive collection of experimental data bearing physical information, frequency and amplitude/power spectra
?Original theoretical research data on the interference of ions and molecules inside proteins
?Appendix covers physical questions most relevant for magnetobiology. In particular there is an original exposition of the magnetic resonance basic principles"

Inhalt

Front Cover 1
Magnetobiology: Underlying Physical Problems 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 6
Foreword 10
Acknowledgements 12
Notations and physical constants 13
Chapter 1. Introduction 16
1.1 An overview of magnetobiological issues 18
1.2 Statistics 27
1.3 Methodological notes and terms 31
1.4 Magnetobiological effect 33
Chapter 2. Overview of Experimental Findings 44
2.1 A potpourri of experimental work 47
2.2 Biological effects of DC magnetic fields 55
2.3 Biological effects of AC magnetic fields 65
2.4 Correlation of biological processes with GMF variations 94
2.5 Spin effects in magnetobiology 107
2.6 Effects of low-frequency electric fields 111
2.7 Biological effects of hyperweak fields 122
Chapter 3. Theoretical Models of MBE 126
3.1 Theoretical studies in magnetoreception 126
3.2 Fundamental limit of susceptibility to EMF 137
3.3 Chemical-kinetics models 143
3.4 Models of biological effects of weak electric fields 146
3.5 Stochastic resonance in magnetobiology 152
3.6 Macroscopic models 163
3.7 Cyclotron resonance in magnetobiology 177
3.8 Parametric resonance in magnetobiology 183
3.9 Oscillatory models 196
3.10 Magnetic response of spin particles 203
3.11 Free radical reactions 208
3.12 “kT problem” in magnetobiology 217
Chapter 4. Interference of Bound Ions 225
4.1 Dissociation of ion–protein complexes in a magnetic field 230
4.2 Non-linear reaction of a protein 248
4.3 Interference in pulsed magnetic fields 254
4.4 Tilted configuration of magnetic fields 268
4.5 Rotation of an ion–protein complex in a magnetic field 281
4.6 Influence of an electric field on interference of ions 290
4.7 Interference against the background of a magnetic noise 301
4.8 Nuclear spins in ion interference mechanisms 307
4.9 Comparison of theoretical calculations with experiment 317
4.10 Heuristic MBE probability with various ions involved 338
4.11 Limitations on applicability of the ion interference mechanism 344
Chapter 5. Prospects of Electro- and Magnetobiology 347
5.1 Possible role of liquid water in magnetobiology 347
5.2 Biological effects of microwaves and ion interference 368
5.3 General ideas in electromagnetobiology 392
5.4 Molecular interfering gyroscope 394
5.5 Magnetobiological problems to solve 407
Chapter 6. Addenda 413
6.1 Angular momentum operators 413
6.2 The Lande factor for ions with a nuclear spin 414
6.3 Magnetic resonance 417
6.4 Estimation of EF gradients on the cell surface 424
6.5 Davydov soliton 426
6.6 Fröhlich model of coherent dipole excitations 429
6.7 Quantization of magnetic flux and Josephson effects 433
Bibliography 439
Author Index 483
Subject Index 486

Textauszug

1

INTRODUCTION

V. Nabokov, The Gift,     There were also two choruses, one of which somehow managed to represent the de Broglie’s waves and the logic of history, while the other chorus, the good one, argued with it

Magnetobiology is a new multidisciplinary domain with contributions coming from fields as diverse as physics and medicine. Its mainstay, however, is biophysics. Magnetobiology has only received a remarkable impetus in the recent two decades. At the same time magnetobiology is a subject matter that during the above relatively long time span failed to receive a satisfactory explanation. There is still no magnetobiological theory, or rather its general physical treatments, or predictive theoretical models. This is all due to the paradoxical nature of the biological action of weak low-frequency magnetic fields, whose energy is incomparable by far with the characteristic energy of biochemical transformations. This all makes the very existence of the domain quite dubious with most of the scientific community, despite a wealth of experimental evidence.

A large body of observational evidence gleaned over years strongly suggests that some electromagnetic fields pose a potential hazard to human health and are a climatic factor that is of no less significance than temperature, pressure, and humidity. As more and more scientists become aware of that fact, studies of the mechanisms of the biological action of electromagnetic fields become an increasingly more topical issue.

There being no biological magnetoreceptors in nature, it is important to perceive the way in which the signal of a magnetic field is transformed into a response of a biological system. A low-frequency magnetic field permeates a living matter without any apparent hindrances. It affects all the particles of the tissue, but not all of the particles are involved in the process of the transferring of information about the magnetic field to the biological level. Primary processes of the interaction of a magnetic field with matter particles, such as electrons, atoms, and molecules, are purely physical processes. Charged particles of living matter, ions, that take part in biophysical and biochemical processes seem to be intermediaries in the transfer of magnetic field signals to the next biochemical level. Such a subtle regulation of the activity of proteins of enzyme type, affected via biophysical mechanisms involving interim ions, shifts the metabolic processes. Beginning with that level one can gauge the action of a magnetic field from the changes in metabolic product densities.

The biological effects of a magnetic field are often observed from the life-support parameters and the behavior of individuals and populations. Experiments, as a rule, boil down to the observation of relations between an external magnetic field and the biological effects it causes. Intermediary levels of the organization of a living system, such as biophysical, biochemical, and physiological ones, appear to lie outside the experimental range, but anyway they affect the experimental results. We thus end up having a kind of a cause-and-effect black box with properties beyond our control. This does not allow any cause–effect relations to be worked out completely. At the same time, there is no practical way to observe the result of the action of weak magnetic fields at the level of individual biochemical reactions or biophysical structures using physical or chemical methods. Magnetobiology is thus fraught with practical difficulties caused by the fact that it necessarily combines issues of physics, biophysics, biochemistry, and biology.

In addition to an analytical review of magnetobiological studies, the book also provides the first detailed description of the effect of the interference of quantum ion states within protein cavities. Using the Schrödinger and Pauli equations, a treatment is given of ion dynamics for idealized conditions and for parallel magnetic fields, as well as for a series of other combinations of magnetic and electric fields. The treatment takes into consideration the ion nuclear spin and the non-linear response of a protein to the redistribution of ion probability density. Formulas are obtained for the magnetic-field-dependent component of the dissociation probability for an ion–protein complex. The principal formula that gives possible magnetobiological effects in parallel DC HDC and AC HAC magnetic fields has the form1

Here m is the magnetic quantum number, Δm = m — m’, Ξ = TΩc is a dimensionless parameter that depends on the properties of an ion–protein complex, ωc = qHDC/Mc is the cyclotron frequency of an ion, f’ = ω/ωs and h’ = HAC/HDC are the dimensionless frequency and amplitude of the variable components of a magnetic field, and Jn is the nth order Bessel function. The elements amm’ are constant coefficients that define the initial conditions for an ion to stay in a cavity. The natural frequency and amplitude interference spectra are worked out for a wide variety of magnetic conditions, including those of pulsed magnetic fields (MFs), for a “magnetic vacuum”, subjected to natural rotations of macromolecules, etc. They show a high level of agreement with available experimental data.

The interference of quantum states of the molecules rotating inside protein cavities, i.e., the interference of molecular gyroscopes, is considered. The properties of molecular gyroscopes are a consistent basis for explaining the physical mechanism of the non-thermal resonance-like biological effects of EMFs, and for solving the so-called “kT problem”.

1.1 AN OVERVIEW OF MAGNETOBIOLOGICAL ISSUES

Unlike biomagnetism, which studies the MFs produced by various biological systems (Vvedenskii and Ozhogin, 1986; Kholodov et al., 1990; Hämäläinen et al., 1993; Baumgartner et al., 1995), magnetobiology addresses the biological reactions and mechanisms of the action of primarily weak, lower than 1 mT, magnetic fields. Recent years have seen a growing interest in the biological actions of weak magnetic and electromagnetic fields. “Microwave News”, published in the USA, provides a catalogue of hundreds of Internet links to organizations that are directly concerned with electromagnetobiological studies, http://www.microwavenews.com/www.html.

Electromagnetobiology is a part of a more general issue of the biological effectiveness of weak and hyperweak physico-chemical factors. It is believed that the action of such factors lies below the trigger threshold for protective biological mechanisms and is therefore prone to accumulating at the subcellular level and is likely at the level of genetic processes.

Electromagnetobiological research received an impetus in the 1960s when Devyatkov’s school developed and produced generators of microwave EM radiations. Almost immediately it was found that microwaves caused noticeable biological effects (Devyatkov, 1973). Those works were reproduced elsewhere. Of much interest was the fact that more often than not the radiations concerned had a power too low to cause any significant heating of tissues. At the same time, the radiation energy quantum was two orders of magnitude lower than the characteristic energy of chemical transformations KT. Also, the effects were only observed at some, not all, frequencies, which pointed to a non-thermal nature of the effects. The action of microwaves was also dependent on the frequency of low-frequency modulation. Therefore, as early as the 1980s reliable observations of bioeffects of low-frequency 10–100 Hz magnetic fields themselves were obtained. This is important, since that frequency range covers frequencies of industrial and household electric appliances.

Interest in magnetobiology stems predominantly from ecological considerations. The intrusion of man into natural processes has reached a dangerous level. The environment is polluted with the wastes of industrial and household activities. We are also witnessing a fast buildup of electromagnetic pollution. In addition, there is still no clear understanding of the physico-chemical mechanisms for the biological action of hyperweak natural and artificial agents. We have thus a paradox on our hands. That is to say, these phenomena are not just unaccountable, they seem to be at variance with the current scientific picture of the world. At the same time, a wealth of observational and experimental data has been accumulated, thus pointing to the real nature of the phenomenon. It follows that the biological action of hyperweak agents is a fundamental scientific problem with a host of applications.

What factors can be called hyperweak? An intuitively acceptable threshold is dictated by common sense. If an effect, or rather a correlation, observed when exposed to some small signal is inconsistent with current views, i.e., we have a that-is-impossible situation, then the signal can be referred to as hyperweak. For electromagnetic fields (EMFs) within a low-frequency range it is a background level, which is engendered by industrial or even household electric devices (Grigoriev, 1994). The diagram in Fig. 1.1 shows the relative level of magnetic fields...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.3.2002
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Biochemie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Chemie ► Physikalische Chemie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Angewandte Physik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Elektrodynamik
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Bauwesen
• ISBN-10: 0-08-053573-9 / 0080535739
• ISBN-13: 978-0-08-053573-9 / 9780080535739