At magnetic field intensities somewhat above that of Earth, stem cell proliferation shifts gears.
Exposure to weak magnetic fields can, depending on their strength, either slow or boost flatworm regeneration, according to a report in Science Advances today (January 30). The study provides evidence for a possible mechanism, showing that magnetic fields affect the production of reactive oxygen species, which in turn alter cell behavior.
“It’s a very nice paper because they are really trying to dig down into the effects of [magnetic fields],” says biophysicist Thorsten Ritz of the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the study. “They are not just adding to the zoo of effects that have been seen [before].”
Furthermore, “it provides the prospect that a weak magnetic field could be employed as a therapeutic tool to non-invasively regulate tissue formation,” says Daniel Kattnig, a biophysicist at the University of Exeter in the UK who also did not participate in the research.
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