How Terahertz Waves Tear Apart DNA (Technology to be used in NYC street scanners)

MIT Technology Review ^ | 10/30/2009 | arXiv blog

[CedarDave]

Great things are expected of terahertz waves, the radiation that fills the slot in the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and the infrared. Terahertz waves pass through non-conducting materials such as clothes , paper, wood and brick and so cameras sensitive to them can peer inside envelopes, into living rooms and "frisk" people at distance.

The way terahertz waves are absorbed and emitted can also be used to determine the chemical composition of a material. And even though they don't travel far inside the body, there is great hope that the waves can be used to spot tumours near the surface of the skin.

~~snip~~

Alexandrov and co have created a model to investigate how THz fields interact with double-stranded DNA and what they've found is remarkable. They say that although the forces generated are tiny, resonant effects allow THz waves to unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication. That's a jaw dropping conclusion.

[CedarDave]

Companion article to this thread:

NYPD, Feds Testing Gun-Scanning Technology, But Civil Liberties Groups Up In Arms

[EEGator]

What does this MIT know? /s
Big Brother is here to keep us safe!

[Brilliant]

This theory has been tested I believe and was not supported. Not only that but it seems somewhat difficult to believe given that terahertz radiation appears naturally all around us. Yet that doesn’t seem to be a problem.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve got neutrinos in me brain.

[tired&retired]

I studied this technology 15 years ago when it was popular research in Japan. They developed scanners using terahertz waves. The waves have some very unusual characteristics.

One question is, does the wave cause an increase in temperature at the cellular level? My question is, if temperature does increase, how does it impact enzymes which are temperature sensitive in performing their function as facilitators or inhibitors?

Let them try it on a box of bullets and see the impact upon the primers!

[tired&retired]

Here is an excellent link on practical application.

http://www.agiltron.com/pdfs/thz%20imager%20specs.pdf

THz Camera Module
Uncooled, Low Cost, Handheld Solution for Terahertz Imaging

Applications
• Drug Development
• Explosives Detection
• Firefighting
• Food Monitoring
• Laser Beam Profiling
• Mail Inspection
• Manufacturing Process Control
• Medical Imaging
• Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
• Personnel Screening

[nuconvert]

pong

[TheOldLady]

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[NonValueAdded]

A skin cancer generator? sure sounds like it

[Kirkwood]

No, the NYPD story is about passive waves naturally emitted from the body (think heat), while the story you posted is about active waves. Very different.

[CedarDave]

Hmm... You appear to be correct in that observation.

[GOPJ]

...although the forces generated are tiny, resonant effects allow THz waves to unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication.

OMG!

[neverdem]

Thanks for the post and the ping, respectively.

[AdmSmith]

This is definitely not dangerous. There is no mechanism for any non-thermal effect for these very weak photons that can cause harm to us. Besides, we, like all objects on the earth are spreading THz waves, look at the frequency band:

from the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THz

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN2xu4mDXMs

and for those of a different mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXRUk-UyDgw