Abstract: The electromagnetic field (EMF) is one of many environmental factors, which earth creatures are exposed to. There are many reports on the effects of EMF on living organisms. However, since the mechanism has not yet been fully understood, the biological effects of EMF are still controversial. In order to explore the effects of bio-inspired EMF (BIEMF) on normal and cancer cells, various cultured cells have been exposed to BIEMF of different directions, i.e. vertical, parallel and inclined. Significantly reduced ATP production in Hela and A549 cancer cells is found for the parallel and vertical BIEMF. More careful examination on Hela cells has revealed a cell density dependent inhibition on colony formation. The morphological observation of BIEMF-exposed Hela cells has suggested that the retarded cell proliferation is probably caused by cell death via apoptosis. Together these results may afford new insights for cancer prevention and treatment.

Key words: electromagnetic fields (EMF), bio-inspired electromagnetic fields (BIEMF), directionality, cancer, cell proliferation