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Could Earth's Magnetic Field Influence How We Age?
Shielded Pink1 mutant flies lived about 20% longer, while wildtype flies gained physical performance but lost lifespan, researchers said.
- On Wednesday, Nottingham University researchers led by Lisa Chakrabarti published a study in Aging suggesting Earth's magnetic field influences how cells produce energy and age.
- Scientists focused on flies with a Pink1 gene mutation, a common model for inherited early-onset Parkinson's disease, placing them into chambers designed to remove nearly all of Earth's natural magnetic field.
- Shielding Pink1 mutants from the magnetic field increased their lifespan by about 20 percent, though the insects showed reduced physical performance over the 70-day study.
- Healthy flies experienced an inverse reaction, with shorter lifespans but improved climbing; the study suggests an increase in mitochondrial complex II, an enzyme complex, potentially explains the mechanism.
- These findings do not apply to humans, and researchers noted limitations including small sample sizes; a 2023 study in Nature reported no evidence of magnetic-field effects on fruit fly behavior.
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A study by the University of Nottingham reveals that isolating insects from this invisible force modifies their mitochondria, physical performance, and life expectancy according to their previous state of health
·Madrid, Spain
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Fruit flies, like us, live constantly in the earth's magnetic field. But what happens if you almost let this field disappear? Researchers from the University of Nottingham have tried this very thing - and come to a surprising result.
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left0Leaning Right2Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
C 67%
R 33%
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