Magnetic Fields Not Drugs Used to Control Cells

enables magnetic control of events at the cellular level. This could lead to finely-tuned but noninvasive treatments for disease.

The method involves using tiny beads, only 30 nanometers in diameter, to bind to receptor molecules on the cells’ surfaces (one nanometer is to a meter as one blueberry is to the diameter of the Earth.) The beads have a crystal geometry that makes them "superparamagnetic" -- able to be magnetized and demagnetized over and over.

When exposed to a magnetic field, the beads pull together, dragging the receptors into large clusters in a manner that mimics the effects of drugs and bodily biochemicals. This clustering activates the receptors, triggering a cascade of biochemical signals that influence different cell functions.

This could lead to non-invasive ways of controlling drug release or physiologic processes such as heart rhythms and muscle contractions.