A small temperature rise may contribute towards the apparent induction by microwaves of heat-shock gene expression in the nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans.
Dawe AS, Smith B, Thomas DW, Greedy S, Vasic N, Gregory A, Loader B, de Pomerai DI. · 2006
View Original AbstractApparent non-thermal microwave effects on gene expression disappeared when researchers eliminated tiny temperature increases of just 0.2°C from their experimental setup.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied whether microwave radiation could trigger stress responses in tiny worms without actually heating them up. They discovered that what initially appeared to be a non-thermal biological effect was actually caused by tiny temperature increases (less than 0.2°C) in their experimental setup. When they improved their equipment to eliminate this slight heating, the biological effects disappeared entirely.
Why This Matters
This study represents crucial quality control in EMF research, demonstrating how seemingly small technical details can lead to incorrect conclusions about non-thermal effects. The researchers found that temperature differences as small as 0.2°C were sufficient to trigger biological responses that could easily be misattributed to electromagnetic fields themselves. What makes this particularly significant is the researchers' intellectual honesty in revisiting and correcting their own earlier work when better measurement techniques revealed the true cause. This type of rigorous self-correction is essential in EMF science, where the distinction between thermal and non-thermal effects remains hotly debated. The study underscores why independent replication with improved methodology is so critical in this field, and why we must be cautious about drawing conclusions from studies that haven't adequately controlled for even minute temperature variations.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate A small temperature rise may contribute towards the apparent induction by microwaves of heat-shock gene expression in the nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans.
Using matched copper TEM cells for both sham and exposed groups, we can detect only modest reporter ...
Traceable calibration of our copper TEM cell by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) reveals signi...
We conclude that our original interpretation of a non-thermal effect of microwaves cannot be sustained; at least part of the explanation appears to be thermal.
Show BibTeX
@article{as_2006_a_small_temperature_rise_2017,
author = {Dawe AS and Smith B and Thomas DW and Greedy S and Vasic N and Gregory A and Loader B and de Pomerai DI.},
title = {A small temperature rise may contribute towards the apparent induction by microwaves of heat-shock gene expression in the nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans.},
year = {2006},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16342196/},
}