Hypomagnetic Fields and Their Multilevel Effects on Living Organisms

Abstract

The Earth’s magnetic field is one of the basic abiotic factors in all environments, and organisms had to adapt to it during evolution. On some occasions, organisms can be confronted with a significant reduction in a magnetic field, termed a “hypomagnetic field—HMF”, for example, in buildings with steel reinforcement or during interplanetary flight. However, the effects of HMFs on living organisms are still largely unclear. Experimental studies have mostly focused on the human and rodent models. Due to the small number of publications, the effects of HMFs are mostly random, although we detected some similarities. Likely, HMFs can modify cell signalling by affecting the contents of ions (e.g., calcium) or the ROS level, which participate in cell signal transduction. Additionally, HMFs have different effects on the growth or functions of organ systems in different organisms, but negative effects on embryonal development have been shown. Embryonal development is strictly regulated to avoid developmental abnormalities, which have often been observed when exposed to a HMF. Only a few studies have addressed the effects of HMFs on the survival of microorganisms. Studying the magnetoreception of microorganisms could be useful to understand the physical aspects of the magnetoreception of the HMF.