Rachel M Sherrard, Natalie Morellini, Nathalie Jourdan, Mohamed El-Esawi, Louis-David Arthaut, Christine Niessner, Francois Rouyer, Andre Klarsfeld, Mohamed Doulazmi, Jacques Witczak, Alain d'Harlingue, Jean Mariani, Ian Mclure, Carlos F Martino, Margaret Ahmad, Adaptation Biologique et Vieillissement = Biological Adaptation and Ageing (B2A), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (IBPS), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), Institut des Nanosciences de Paris (INSP), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Plasticité du Cerveau (PdC), ESPCI ParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Florida Institute of Technology [Melbourne], Sorbonne Université (SU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay (NeuroPSI), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Plasticité du Cerveau Brain Plasticity (UMR 8249) (PdC), Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Over the last three decades, evidence has emerged that low-intensity magnetic fields can influence biological systems. It is now well established that migratory birds have the capacity to detect the Earth's magnetic field; it has been reported that power lines are associated with childhood leukemia and that pulsed magnetic fields increase the production of reactive oxidative species (ROS) in cellular systems. Justifiably, studies in this field have been viewed with skepticism, as the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. In the accompanying paper, Sherrard and colleagues report that low-flux pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) result in aversive behavior in Drosophila larvae and ROS production in cell culture. They further report that these responses require the presence of cryptochrome, a putative magnetoreceptor. If correct, it is conceivable that carcinogenesis associated with power lines, PEMF-induced ROS generation, and animal magnetoreception share a common mechanistic basis., This Primer explores recent evidence as to how low-intensity magnetic fields might influence biological systems.