Embryonic Development and Weak Changes of the Geomagnetic Field

Abstract

It was previously observed that weak, pulsed, extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields increased developmental abnormalities in early chick embryos. However, the biological response was not always obtained. In the present study it is shown that the varying AC fields incidence on the embryos is linearly related to slight changes in the values of the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field, especially during the gastrulation phase of the developing organisms. No relationship was found with the value of the vertical component of the earth's field. These results suggest that weak pulsed magnetic fields have only the potentiality to be effective on early embryos, their incidence depending on small changes of the earth's field value and/or inclination angle.