MAGNETIC fields have been fingered in the past as a possible trigger for cancer, causing public scares about living under power lines or working near strong magnets. But no one could figure out how they might cause health problems because they don’t have enough energy to break chemical bonds or heat molecules up. Now chemists have a hint of a possible mechanism.
They found that proteins in membranes can act like magnets themselves, and that steady external magnetic fields of fridge-magnet strength can force them to bend into line. If the same happens in the membranes of living cells, magnetic…
