theory, to couple to either of the three processes by choosing an appropriate magnetic pulse. The theory
has been successfully applied to the study of the rate of limb regeneration in the salamander (7): it was
found that the degree of dedifferentiation could be accelerated or decelerated (depending on the
spectral characteristics of the magnetic field) as predicted.
The ideas of resonant absorption and resonant interactions have also been proposed as an
explanation for the marked sensitivity of living systems to EMFs. Zon speculated that the electrons in
cell mitochondria constituted a plasma state (8). He calculated that the frequency of resonant
absorption would be in the gigahertz range for typical values of the dielectric constant and the density
of charge carriers. This would make the mitochondria extremely sensitive to microwave EMFs. Zon's
idea could also apply to other biostructures and other frequency ranges.
Frolich has proposed another form of resonance. Biological structures frequently consist of
electric dipoles that are capable of vibratory motion-hydrogen bonds in DNA and proteins, for
example. Long-range coulomb interactions between the oscillatory units produce a narrow band of
frequencies corresponding to the normal modes of electromagnetic oscillations. Frolich showed that
when energy is supplied to such a system-either from metabolism or from external sources-above a
critical rate, it is automatically channeled into the lowest frequency mode, thereby resulting in coherent
excitation of the vibratory components (a phenomenon known as Bose-Einstein condensation) (9).
Theoretically, such electromagnetic oscillations could affect cell dynamics, and the sharp frequency
resonances in biological effects predicted by Frolich have been observed in studies of the rate of yeast
growth (10) and the rate of cell division (11). The latency of the biological effect is an important
parameter, because the biological effect is associated with the condensed phase which occurs a finite
time after irradiation has begun. It is not yet clear to what extent the observed time thresholds are
consistent with theory. Future work may lead to an extension of Frolich's concept to higher systems.
A Josephson junction consists of a thin (approximately 10Å) insulating barrier between two
superconducting regions. The current through a Josephson junction is highly sensitive to applied EMFs,
and this has been exploited in the design of EMF detectors (SQUIDS). Theoretical and experimental
evidence for the existence of superconductivity in biological tissue has already been discussed (chapter
4); it suggests the existence of fractional superconductivity in which the superconducting regions are
dispersed in tissue that has normal macroscopic electrical characteristics (a concentration in the order
of parts per million). As Cope has pointed out (12), the existence of Josephson junctions in biological
tissue would provide a physical mechanism of sufficient sensitivity to explain the observed biological
effects of applied EMFs. Antonowicz has observed what seems to be a room temperature Josephson
effect in carbon films (13), but there are no similar reports involving biological tissue. This may only
mean, of course, that the right measurements have not yet been performed.
Summary
As was seen in chapter 3, living organisms have evolved a means for receiving information
about the environment in the form of nonvisual electromagnetic signals. To process it, organisms must
also have developed an ability to discriminate among the infinite number of possible signals and to
ignore those that were not useful. Although EMFs can be physiologically informational or can have
characteristics that simulate intrinsic electrical signals found in growth-control and neural processes
(see chapter 2), the bulk of the studies done to date used EMFs whose characteristics had no special
physiological significance. The studies in part three show that the organism's prototypical response to
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