Effect of 60 minutes exposure to electromagnetic field on fecundity, learning and memory, speed of movement and whole body protein of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
El Kholy SE, El Husseiny EM. · 2012
View Original AbstractMobile phone EMF exposure altered learning, memory, and movement in fruit flies after just 60 minutes, suggesting neurological vulnerability.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed fruit fly larvae to electromagnetic fields from four different electrical devices, including mobile phones, for 60 minutes to study effects on behavior and proteins. They found that EMF exposure significantly altered learning and memory function and increased movement speed by 2.5 times in larvae exposed to mobile phones, while also changing protein patterns in the flies' bodies. These findings suggest that even brief EMF exposure can affect brain function and cellular processes in developing organisms.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing evidence that EMF exposure affects neurological development and cellular function, even in simple organisms like fruit flies. What makes this research particularly relevant is that fruit flies share fundamental biological processes with humans, making them valuable models for understanding potential health effects. The finding that mobile phone EMF specifically caused the most dramatic changes in learning, memory, and movement behavior is concerning given how ubiquitous these devices have become in our daily lives. The researchers also documented changes in protein expression patterns, indicating that EMF exposure triggers measurable biological responses at the cellular level. While we can't directly extrapolate from flies to humans, this study contributes to a substantial body of research demonstrating that EMF exposure produces real biological effects across multiple species and biological systems.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
This study investigated the effect of four different electrical devices as source of electromagnetic field on fecundity, learning and memory function, speed of movement, in addition to the whole body proteins of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
The results showed that exposure to EMF has no significant effect on adult fecundity (ANOVA and Dunc...
Show BibTeX
@article{se_2012_effect_of_60_minutes_2052,
author = {El Kholy SE and El Husseiny EM.},
title = {Effect of 60 minutes exposure to electromagnetic field on fecundity, learning and memory, speed of movement and whole body protein of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.},
year = {2012},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23469637/},
}