Ar-Rehman

By decoding Earth's magnetic field, it might help treatment of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's

Blocking Earth’s magnetic field could help fight Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s after scientists found that the natural force influences cells. Fruit flies genetically edited to have a Parkinson’s mutation lived 20% longer when they were shielded from Earth’s magnetic field. However, healthy flies shut off from the field died earlier. It is the first study to suggest that Earth’s magnetic field is having an important effect on biology, and may influence certain diseases and ageing. Study suggests condition could be helped by blocking natural planetary energy. It passes through our bodies, our cells and every living organism on the planet, yet we know surprisingly little about whether and how this invisible force affects the way our cells work. Life on Earth has never existed without the shelter of the planet's magnetic field, and according to new research, that constant presence may be quietly woven into the basic biology of living organisms, with possible implications for aging and future treatments for diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham said they had expected that the field might have an effect at quantum level, but found it “very striking” that the effect on cells was so immediately apparent. The field appears to affect mitochondria, the batteries of cells, which generate much of the energy required for the body to function. Experts now believe that blocking natural magnetism could be a useful therapy for conditions which disrupt mitochondria, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Generated deep within Earth's core for at least 3.7 billion years and extending far out into space, this invisible cocoon is popularly credited with helping preserve Earth's habitability, shielding the planet from harsh solar winds and helping retain the water which makes life possible. Scientists have also long known that migratory birds and animals such as sea turtles can sense this field and use it to navigate. However, its more fundamental influence on biology has remained poorly understood, researchers say. "We live our entire lives within the Earth's magnetic field," Lisa Chakrabarti, a professor at University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, said.

Doctoral candidate Jacob Reed, of Nottingham’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, said: “The feasibility of this as an application to humans isn’t as far away as we may think". Magnetically shielded rooms are not a new phenomenon, and humans work in these often, with equipment like MRI scanners being placed within specialized rooms. “The common practice has become to add an external magnetic field, but few researchers have removed it. Study have shown that the removal of Earth’s magnetic field has a potentially targeted effect on the mitochondria. “Some of humankind’s most notoriously complex diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease have this underlying mitochondrial dysfunction.” To get some answers, the research team, co-led by Chakrabarti, tried switching it off. Using a special magnetic shielding system, the researchers reduced the ambient field to near zero and compared two groups of fruit flies, healthy flies and flies with a defect, a gene associated with inherited early onset Parkinson's disease in humans. Starting from the moment each fly reached adulthood, the researchers tracked both groups for 70 days, scoring them alive or dead each day, the team reports in a new paper.

The researchers found shielding the diseased flies from Earth's magnetic field increased their lifespan by around 20%. However, the environment also reduced their physical performance, which the team measured by placing the flies at the bottom of a small vial and timing how well they climbed. Meanwhile, the group of healthy flies showed the opposite pattern, with shorter lifespans but improved physical performance under the same conditions. "I was really confused at first," study co-lead Jacob Reed, a Ph.D. student in bioscience at the University of Nottingham, said. "I was thinking: 'Why are these Parkinson's flies living longer than some of the wild-type flies?' I had to double-check all of my data." Earth’s magnetic field is an invisible force field which surrounds the planet and reaches into space, acting like a giant, tilted bar magnet which creates the north and south poles. It is generated deep in the liquid outer core of the planet, where molten iron and nickel rotate, creating strong electric currents and magnetism. Many animals can sense this magnetic field, with birds using it to navigate, but it was never thought to have much of a direct effect on cells. Prof Lisa Chakrabarti, of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham, said: “We did suspect that the magnetic field has an effect at the quantum level but what we are seeing is almost immediate and very striking." We live our entire lives within the Earth’s magnetic field.

The researchers link the source of these effects lies in the mitochondria, the structures inside cells that generate energy, specifically to part of the mitochondria's energy-producing machinery known as Complex II. Shielded healthy flies showed a significant rise in Complex II activity alongside elevated levels of a reactive molecule called superoxide, which is a byproduct of energy production which in high amounts can damage cells over time and a likely explanation for their shortened lifespan. In the mutant flies, that same rise in Complex II activity appeared to compensate for their underlying genetic deficit, producing a "beneficial, life-extending response" effect instead, the study notes." Results raise the intriguing possibility that the Earth’s magnetic field forms part of the biological environment to which life has adapted throughout evolution. “Understanding how cells sense and respond to magnetic fields could ultimately reveal new ways of manipulating mitochondrial function in ageing and disease.” The study suggests that humans may need the magnetic field to function correctly and that astronauts travelling away from Earth may suffer health problems.

“We can definitely say the loss of a magnetic field would have a major effect on the underlying biology,” added Mr Reed. While the fly experiment offers a tantalising glimpse into how magnetic fields could boost health, researchers warn that it may also have unintended consequences. The findings raise the possibility that such non-invasive hypomagnetic conditions could eventually offer a therapeutic benefit for diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The findings also build on a scattered but suggestive body of prior research. For instance, earlier human studies have linked reduced magnetic field exposure to slightly worse performance on problem-solving tasks and small changes in pupil size. Meanwhile, studies in rats examining magnetic fields and bone density have produced inconsistent results, with some finding weaker bones and others finding no effect at all. Taken together, the research is messy and sometimes contradictory, but one pattern keeps emerging, the study notes, that magnetic fields "can affect fundamental cellular processes" and that responses differ "depending on the cell type."

The new work may also carry implications beyond Earth, the researchers say. As space agencies look toward longer missions to the moon and Mars, astronauts will spend extended stretches beyond the reach of Earth's magnetic field. Scientists already know that this exposes them to harmful cosmic radiation, but how the absence of the field itself, separate from radiation, might affect human physiology is not very well understood. "The link with interplanetary space travel is absolutely key," Chakrabarti said. "Unless we know what those parameters are to measure, we're going to be sending astronauts up there that are potentially going to really suffer over the short, or even or the longer, term." The Parkinson’s flies lived longer but their climbing performance diminished, and while the healthy flies had shorter lifespans, they performed better on climbing tests. “The result was not a simple improvement or decline across every measure,” added Prof Chakrabarti. “This suggests to us that the effect of removing the Earth’s magnetic field depends on the overall health of the organism. Not all the measures were improvements so there would need to be some refinements in the future.