Evidence for a specific microwave radiation effect on the green fluorescent protein.
Copty AB, Neve-Oz Y, Barak I, Golosovsky M, Davidov D. · 2006
View Original AbstractMicrowave radiation altered protein structure in ways that heating alone could not explain, suggesting EMF has specific biological effects beyond thermal damage.
Plain English Summary
Researchers at Hebrew University exposed green fluorescent protein (a common laboratory marker) to 8.5 GHz microwave radiation and compared the effects to conventional heating. While both methods reduced the protein's fluorescence and shifted its color spectrum, the microwave exposure caused additional changes that couldn't be explained by heat alone. This suggests microwave radiation has specific biological effects beyond just warming tissues.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence for what researchers call 'non-thermal effects' - biological changes from microwave radiation that occur independent of heating. The 8.5 GHz frequency used falls within the range of many wireless devices, making this particularly relevant to everyday EMF exposure. What makes this research significant is its careful experimental design that separated thermal effects from radiation-specific effects, addressing a key criticism often raised by industry advocates who claim EMF effects are 'just heating.' The reality is that proteins are fundamental building blocks of all biological processes, and if microwave radiation can alter protein structure in ways that heating alone cannot, this has profound implications for understanding how wireless radiation might affect living cells. While this was a laboratory study using isolated proteins rather than living organisms, it adds to the growing body of evidence that EMF exposure creates biological changes through mechanisms we're still working to understand.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 8.5 GHz
Study Details
We have compared the effect of microwave irradiation and of conventional heating on the fluorescence of solution-based green fluorescent protein.
A specialized near-field 8.5 GHz microwave applicator operating at 250 mW input microwave power was ...
In both cases the fluorescence intensity decreases and the spectrum becomes red-shifted. Although th...
Show BibTeX
@article{ab_2006_evidence_for_a_specific_1995,
author = {Copty AB and Neve-Oz Y and Barak I and Golosovsky M and Davidov D.},
title = {Evidence for a specific microwave radiation effect on the green fluorescent protein.},
year = {2006},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16731554/},
}