Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4.
Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4.
J R Soc Interface. 2022 Aug;19(193):20220325. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0325. Epub 2022 Aug 3.
Hundreds of studies have found that weak magnetic fields can significantly influence various biological systems. However, the underlying mechanisms behind these phenomena remain elusive. Remarkably, the magnetic energies implicated in these effects are much smaller than thermal energies. Here, we review these observations, and we suggest an explanation based on the radical pair mechanism, which involves the quantum dynamics of the electron and nuclear spins of transient radical molecules. While the radical pair mechanism has been studied in detail in the context of avian magnetoreception, the studies reviewed here show that magnetosensitivity is widespread throughout biology. We review magnetic field effects on various physiological functions, discussing static, hypomagnetic and oscillating magnetic fields, as well as isotope effects. We then review the radical pair mechanism as a potential unifying model for the described magnetic field effects, and we discuss plausible candidate molecules for the radical pairs. We review recent studies proposing that the radical pair mechanism provides explanations for isotope effects in xenon anaesthesia and lithium treatment of hyperactivity, magnetic field effects on the circadian clock, and hypomagnetic field effects on neurogenesis and microtubule assembly. We conclude by discussing future lines of investigation in this exciting new area of quantum biology.
数百项研究发现，弱磁场可以显著影响各种生物系统。然而，这些现象背后的潜在机制仍难以捉摸。值得注意的是，这些影响所涉及的磁能远小于热能。在这里，我们回顾了这些观察结果，并基于自由基对机制提出了一种解释，该机制涉及瞬态自由基分子的电子和核自旋的量子动力学。虽然自由基对机制在鸟类磁受体方面已经进行了详细研究，但这里回顾的研究表明，磁敏感性在整个生物学中广泛存在。我们回顾了磁场对各种生理功能的影响，讨论了静磁场、低磁场和振荡磁场，以及同位素效应。然后，我们将自由基对机制作为描述的磁场效应的潜在统一模型进行了综述，并讨论了自由基对的可能候选分子。我们回顾了最近的研究，这些研究提出自由基对机制可以解释氙麻醉和锂治疗多动症中的同位素效应、生物钟的磁场效应以及低磁场对神经发生和微管组装的影响。最后，我们讨论了在这个令人兴奋的量子生物学新领域的未来研究方向。
