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Updated: May 15, 2026

High-Throughput Assays of Critical Thermal Limits in Insects
Published on: June 15, 2020
Effect of a magnetic field on Drosophila under supercooled conditions
Munekazu Naito1, Shuichi Hirai, Makoto Mihara
1Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
Under subzero degree conditions, free water contained in biological cells tends to freeze and then most living things die due to low temperatures. We examined the effect of a variable magnetic field on Drosophila under supercooled conditions (a state in which freezing is not caused even below the freezing point). Under such supercooled conditions with the magnetic field at 0°C for 72 hours, -4°C for 24 hours and -8°C for 1 hour, the Drosophila all survived, while all conversely died under the supercooled conditions without the magnetic field. This result indicates a possibility that the magnetic field can reduce cell damage caused due to low temperatures in living things.

