WEB-048Original text reviewed
100 and 290 GHz: changes in cell-membrane fluidity
The reported finding
Membrane diffusion increased under 100/290 GHz exposure below 36°C; fluorescence shifts supported altered lipid ordering. 480 GHz showed no significant diffusion change.
Reading it carefully
Measured heating of approximately 2.3–3.0°C required calibration. Response was temperature-dependent; no clinical injury demonstrated. 480 GHz is outside the 90–300 GHz research track.
Inside the study
Technology connection
Higher-frequency laboratory biology relevant to investigating proposed future bands; not a test of a final 6G standard. This paper also retains a 480 GHz comparison outside the 90–300 GHz track.
Publication type
Original journal research
Exposure conditions
Continuous 100, 290 and 480 GHz; respective densities 89, 65 and 20 mW/cm²; temperature-calibrated fluorescence measurements.
Design & controls
Living HeLa cells; fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and Laurdan imaging; unexposed temperature comparisons.
Statistics
See the original results; effect sizes were not independently recalculated.
Related research & shared cohorts
Separate Japanese membrane-physics group; a frequency-specific experiment, not a test of a final 6G system.
The protection question raised
Which exposure conditions reproduce this finding, and what would establish its relevance beyond the experimental model?
Source verification
Original methods/results and interpretation reviewed; raw data and supplements were not independently audited.
Where to find the result
Original methods and results
Editorial notices
Linked Europe PMC/PubMed notice fields checked 21 October 2026; no correction/retraction surfaced for this record. Publisher/citation screening is not exhaustive.
Funding
Reported funder(s): http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001691 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Grant identifiers: 22K18992.
Conflicts of interest
See original disclosure; no independently verified conflict assessment.
Original publication
Hiromichi Hoshina. Order-disorder phase transition of cell membrane induced by THz irradiation. Scientific reports. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-99475-x.