Abstract
Electromagnetic fields are usually absent in the picture of processes taking place in living cells which is dominated by biochemistry, molecular genetics and microscopic morphology. Yet experimental and theoretical studies suggest that this omission is not justified. At the end of 1960's H. Fröhlich elaborated a semi-phenomenological model of polar oscillating units that are metabolically driven, exchange energy with the cell's internal heat reservoir, and store part of the energy in excited vibrational modes in such way, that mode with the lowest frequency becomes highly excited, while the higher-order modes remain near thermal equilibrium. This affords energy-hungry chemical reactions to take place while the rest of the cell is not exposed to heat stress. At present, part of the cytoskeleton - microtubules - are deemed to fulfil the role of oscillating units. The paper provides an introduction to the Fröhlich ideas for readers with background in medicine and biology in that it avoids mathematical formulas and relies on figures to convey information about the basic properties of the model. The essential features of the Fröhlich model - most notably the energy condensation - are demonstrated on ensemble encompassing three coupled vibration modes that can be exactly described using original diagrammatic method.
Highlights
There is a remarkable disproportion between the abundant current knowledge of the cell’s biochemistry and genomic equipment on one hand and the much lesser information available about the cell as a physical universe on the other
An early attempt to rectify this situation was undertaken in late sixties of the previous century by Anglo-German physicist Herbert Fröhlich (1968a, b). He was intrigued by the presence of cellular macromolecules with significant electric dipoles which are bound to emit electromagnetic fields, being excited by the cell’s metabolic energy
From the point of view of cellular physiology, the most relevant property of the Fröhlich model is the possibility to concentrate great number of energy quanta in one vibrational mode, significantly above the thermal equilibrium level, whereas the system as a whole remains close to equilibrium with the heat bath
Summary
There is a remarkable disproportion between the abundant current knowledge of the cell’s biochemistry and genomic equipment on one hand and the much lesser information available about the cell as a physical universe on the other. An early attempt to rectify this situation was undertaken in late sixties of the previous century by Anglo-German physicist Herbert Fröhlich (1968a, b) He was intrigued by the presence of cellular macromolecules with significant electric dipoles which are bound to emit electromagnetic fields, being excited by the cell’s metabolic energy. Analyzing a mathematical model of such situation, Fröhlich found that, under suitable conditions, the supplied energy is deposited preferentially in the mode with lowest frequency. This mode becomes excited far beyond the thermal-equilibrium level, even though the rest of the system remains close to equilibrium. This could have far-reaching consequences, e.g. for the kinetics of chemical reactions inside the cell, causing departure from the usual Arrhenius scheme and transition-state concept
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