# WEB-026 — Microbial membrane permeability after high-intensity 18 GHz exposure Why this matters Membrane experiments can reveal physical interactions with cells. This work reports uptake of material that normally does not cross the membrane, under unusually intense laboratory exposure. Id: WEB-026 Author: Nguyen et al. Full Authors: The Hong Phong Nguyen; Vy T H Pham; Song Ha Nguyen; Vladimir Baulin; Rodney J Croft; Brian Phillips; Russell J Crawford; Elena P Ivanova Year: 2016 Title: The Bioeffects Resulting from Prokaryotic Cells and Yeast Being Exposed to an 18 GHz Electromagnetic Field Journal: PloS one Citation: The Hong Phong Nguyen; Vy T H Pham; Song Ha Nguyen; Vladimir Baulin; Rodney J Croft; Brian Phillips; Russell J Crawford; Elena P Ivanova. The Bioeffects Resulting from Prokaryotic Cells and Yeast Being Exposed to an 18 GHz Electromagnetic Field. PloS one. 2016. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0158135. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158135 Pmid: 27391488 Topic: Membrane permeability; 18 GHz cellular experiments Verification Group: Original text reviewed Record Role: Original text reviewed Featured: False Exposure: 18 GHz; repeated short exposures, approximately 3–5 kW/kg SAR per dose; temperature profiles around 33–40°C; matched bulk-heating comparisons. Design: Bacteria and yeast; fluorescent markers/nanospheres, microscopy, viability and growth assays. Finding: Exposure increased membrane permeability and nanosphere uptake; most cells remained viable. Matched conventional heating did not reproduce the permeability finding. Statistics: See reported finding and original tables; effect sizes not independently recalculated. Boundary: High-intensity mechanistic experiment, not satellite-received exposure. Local thermal contributions remain a consideration. Correct lead author is Nguyen, not Shamis. Related: Swinburne membrane research programme with WEB-027; different biological material. Later related records: WEB-034, WEB-035. These are different experiments, not necessarily independent replication. Protection Question: Which exposure conditions and biological models reproduce this response, and what would establish its relevance to health? Access: Original methods/results sections reviewed; no independent raw-data or supplement audit. Locator: Original results/methods sections Notice: Linked notice fields in retrieved Europe PMC/PubMed records checked 21 October 2026; no correction or retraction surfaced there. Publisher-history and forward-citation screening are not exhaustive. Funding: Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research Marie Curie Actions EU FP7 Initial Training Network SNAL 608184 This work was partly supported by the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research (ACEBR, http://acebr.uow.edu.au/index.html T.H.P.N., Ro.J.C., E.P.I.), a National Health & Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence (NHMRC). VB and EI acknowledge funding from Marie Curie Actions under EU FP7 Initial Training Network SNAL 608184 ( http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/110943_en.html T.H.P.N., V.B. E.P.I.). This work was also supported by the National Health & Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence. The authors have no financial or personal relationship with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence this work. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Conflicts: Disclosure statement not extracted in this source check; see the original publication. Source Url: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158135 Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158135 | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27391488/ | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4938218/ Verification Date: 2026-10-21 Discovery Id: EML-SAT-004 Technology Tracks: satellite Technology Connection: Microwave laboratory research at an adjacent or overlapping frequency; not a Starlink or satellite-system exposure. Publication Type: Original journal research Study Setting: Cells / isolated tissue Browse Categories: cells