Magnetic Effects Across Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Environmental Chemistry: Genes, Brain and Cancer under Magnetic Control

By A L Buchachenko

Magnetic effects across biochemistry, molecular biology and environmental chemistry: Genes, brain and cancer under magnetic control provides an overview of the influence of magnetism upon molecular and biochemical processes and its impact on disease, health and organisms.
This book provides an understanding of key concepts behind magnetic fields before exploring their biological significance. It elucidates when and why magnetic effects arise, how they function, and how they can be utilized. Molecular mechanisms underlying magnetic effects and the impact of magnetism on genes are explored. Additionally, magnetic control in treatment of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and neurological disease is investigated.
This book explores a rapidly developing and intriguing field of science, providing a basis for future study in the field of magneto-biology, and is a useful reference for researchers across biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics and related fields.

• Explores the mechanisms of magnetic fields and magnetic isotope effects at a molecular and biochemical level

• Identifies key background concepts and function of magnetic fields across biology and chemistry

• Covers magnetic control in the context of genes, including key processes such as DNA synthesis,  magnetically induced DNA damage, and  magnetic control of DNA repair

• Demonstrates a new, radical pair mechanism as a means to stimulate ATP synthesis in living organisms for prevention of diseases

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Nov 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9780443298202

A L Buchachenko

A.L. Buchachenko is currently Professor of Chemistry in the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Professor of Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University. He received his MS degree from Nizhny Novgorod University and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Chemical Physics in Moscow. Professor Buchachenko is one of the founders and leaders of spin chemistry, and his research has involved the discovery of magnetic isotope effect, which is a new phenomenon of fundamental importance for chemistry, biochemistry, geology, molecular biology, and ecology. Professor Buchachenko has won a number of awards for his work and has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics Letters, and, Editor-in-Chief of the Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Book preview

Prologue

Why magnetic fields modify chemistry and biology?

Spin is the angular momentum of electron as a quantum top; nuclear spin is the angular momentum of magnetic nucleus. Chemistry is a Kingdom reigned by Queen, the energy, and King, angular momentum. The Queen rules graciously: if there is not enough energy, the reacting species overcome energy barrier under the barrier by quantum tunneling. The King rules cruelly: all molecular processes are spin selective; they are allowed only for those spin states of reactants, whose total spin is identical to that of products. Conservation of angular momentum (electron spin) is a fundamental and universal principle.

Magnetic interactions are the only ones, which are able to change electron spin of reactants and switch over the processes between spin-forbidden and spin-allowed channels, controlling pathways and chemical reactivity in molecular processes. Spin chemistry is the science of controlling spin by magnetic fields: the permanent external fields, the internal field of magnetic nuclei, and electromagnetic fields. Contributing almost nothing into the total energy, being negligibly small, magnetic interactions control physical, chemical, and biochemical processes. Spin chemistry is in fact chemistry under magnetic control. Two major discoveries certified its foundation: the discovery of nuclear polarization, induced by chemical reactions (1967), and the discovery of the magnetic isotope effect (1976). Spin biology inherits the magnetic effects created by spin chemistry in enzymatic reactions and reproduces them at the cellular level and in whole organisms. Spin biology is in fact magneto-biology and spin genetics is indeed magneto-genetics.

Among the many factors, controlling chemical reactions, magnetic fields as a means to accelerate or retard the reactions are the most intriguing; for this reason, the term magnetic catalysis is further used on a par with magnetic control. Magnetic catalysis implies a regulation of molecular processes by any magnetic fields. It is a magic catalysis; it needs neither homogeneous, nor heterogeneous catalysts. It is catalysis by interactions induced by magnetic nuclei, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic irradiation. It exhibits itself in many remarkable, highly important and useful phenomena:

• It is a universal means to detect and elucidate chemical mechanisms of reactions, to discriminate reactions occurring with participation of paramagnetic intermediate species and finally to control reaction routes.

• Magnetic catalysis, induced by magnetic isotopes, is the most reliable means to monitor and elucidate environmental chemistry controlling the sources, evolution, and routes of dangerous pollutants (such as mercury compounds) in natural processes and in living organisms.

• Nuclear magnetic catalysis is a powerful and unique means to fractionate magnetic and nonmagnetic isotopes, including uranium, with the efficiency about 100%.

• It produces nuclear polarization and creates orientation of magnetic nuclei in molecules, the reaction products, resulting to chemically induced microwave emission of products (chemical maser); it is a basis for the chemical radio-physics, a new fascinating field of physics.

• Magnetic and electromagnetic fields, both external and internal induced by magnetic nuclei, accelerate motion of dislocations in solids, controlling mechanical properties of solids.

• It is a means to stimulate ATP synthesis in isolated enzymatic reactions and in living organisms by introducing nuclear magnetic ions of magnesium into the heart muscle preventing ATP deficiency and heart deceases.

• It is a means to understand and elucidate genomic reactions, related to the DNA synthesis, responsible for the trans-cranial magnetic stimulation correcting cognitive activity and preventing neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s; these technologies are widely and successfully used in neurophysiology and medicine and even in the storage of fruits and improved germination of seeds.

• It is a powerful and universal means to kill cancer cells by inhibition of enzymatic DNA synthesis in these cells, using nuclear magnetic ions of Mg, Ca, and Zn.

The heart of this book is magnetically controlled chemistry, biochemistry, and biology. The purpose of this book is to elucidate, when and why magnetic effects arise, how they function, how they can be controlled and used, to suggest and analyze molecular mechanisms underlying magnetic biochemistry, to enlighten biochemical and medical consequences of the control, and offer means to deliberately use them in medicine as an attractive noninvasive technology.

Chapter 1: How magnetic fields modify chemistry and biochemistry

Abstract

Magnetic control in chemistry and biochemistry proceeds by radical pair mechanism. The reactive pairs of spin carriers—radicals, ion radicals, metal ions, the triplet and high spin molecules—form spin states of different spin multiplicity. Being chemically absolutely identical, these states are completely different in their chemical reactivity. Magnetic control implies spin conversion and switching over between the spin allowed and spin forbidden states, tuning chemical reactivity, reaction routes, and rates.

Keywords

Magnetic control; Radical pair; Spin multiplicity; Spin states

1.1. Radical pair mechanism of the magnetic control

Magnetic fields, both external and internal, induced by magnetic nuclei, modify chemical reactivity, producing new phenomena and effects. The two facets of magnetic control are most important. First, it discloses the new properties of chemical reactions, it brings new comprehension of molecular mechanisms and an understanding of how to deliberately tune them for certain targets. Second, it introduces new ideas and technologies in molecular biology and genetics, which open new frontiers in medical applications.

The simplest and most extended in chemistry and biochemistry example for the illustration of magnetic control is the radical pair [R   R] as a precursor of the radical recombination or disproportionation products. Only the singlet state of the pair with spin S = 0 is open for the reaction and generates diamagnetic molecule RR; the triplet pairs with spin S = 1 are