In South Korea, scientists have used a magnetic field to kill cancer cells, according to themindunleashed.org. The body removes old, defective, or infected cells through the process of programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis.
During apoptosis, the removed cell responds to certain signals sent by the body through a fragmentation process. Immune cells then utilize these fragments. Magnets act as a trigger and help trigger apoptosis. When apoptosis does not occur, the rejected cells divide uncontrollably and a tumor develops.
Professor Jinwoo Cheon Jinwoo Cheon of Yonsei University in Seoul and a team of scientists have conducted experiments on intestinal cancer cells using magnetic fields to induce apoptosis. They add iron nanoparticles to antibodies that bind to the "receptors" of molecules on tumor cells.
These molecular clusters, when a magnetic field is applied, signal "self-destruction" and thereby induce apoptosis. In the experiment, more than half of the colon cancer cells were destroyed when the signal for clusters scheduled for apoptosis took effect. The untreated cells were not affected and remained unharmed.