Electromagnetic Fields and Biological Effects

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) interact with living tissue in ways that remain only partly understood, spanning phenomena from how migratory birds detect Earth's magnetic field using cryptochrome proteins to whether chronic radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones meaningfully elevates the risk of brain tumors or DNA damage. Researchers in this area work across scales, examining molecular mechanisms in cells, functional changes in organs, and epidemiological patterns in human populations. A central unresolved question is whether low-intensity, non-ionizing radiation can cause harm through subtle biological pathways that fall below the thresholds current safety guidelines were designed to address. Active work is refining dosimetry methods, revisiting how cryptochrome-mediated radical-pair chemistry might generalize beyond navigation, and trying to reconcile inconsistent findings on long-term cancer risk from devices now carried by billions of people.

Works

57,222

Total citations

468,126

Keywords

MagnetoreceptionElectromagnetic FieldsMobile Phone RadiationCancer RiskDNA DamageCryptochrome