Effect of coherence time of the applied magnetic field on ornithine decarboxylase activity.

Skepticism over the possibility of weak electromagnetic fields affecting cell function exists because endogenous thermal noise fields are larger than those reported to cause effects. Four-hour exposure to a 55- or 65-Hz field approximately doubles the specific activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in L929 cells. To test the idea that the cell discriminates against this thermal noise because it is incoherent, partial incoherence was introduced into the applied field by shifting the frequency between 55- to 65-Hz at intervals of tau coh--delta tau where tau coh is a predetermined time interval and delta tau much less than tau coh varies randomly from one frequency shift to the next. To obtain the full ODC enhancement, coherence of the impressed signal must be maintained for a minimum of about 10s. For tau coh = 5.0s a partial enhancement is elicited, and at 1.0s there is no response. Unfortunately coherence times of this duration are too short to solve the thermal noise puzzle.