Morphological changes induced by 53.37 GHz radiation on giant liposomes

As reported in literature [1, 2] the biological response to millimeter waves (MMWs) appears deeply related to the frequency range and the level of power radiation. A part from the thermal e®ects that occur at high powers (> 10mW/cm2), it was conjectured that the interaction between MMWs and biological systems could involve resonant/non-thermal mechanisms at very low powers [3]. Since the biophysical mechanisms underlying these e®ects are still unknown, studies to ¯ll important gaps in knowledge focused on possible health hazards of electromagnetic ¯elds are recommended by European and WHO reports [4]. To signi¯cantly reduce the uncertainty in the current scienti¯c information researchers are encouraged to use a modeling approach for testing how EMF interact with biological systems. Previous studies [5, 6] in our laboratory have indicated that vesicles are an eligible model to study changes on lipid membranes induced by 2.45 GHz and 130 GHz, so that physical and biochemical processes may be isolated and analyzed in molecular terms. Here, we report an approach to a real time evaluation (i.e., during the irradiation to 53.37 GHz) of morphological changes induced on giant vesicles.