Does EMF exposure pose a risk to human health? NextGEM’s main goal is to answer this question, and it investigates it through many lines of research. The objective is to assess the effects of RF exposure across various frequency bands using both in vitro and in vivo biological models. In this context, three NextGEM partners showcased how they conduct their research.
Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC, from Spain) use the nematode C.elegans to assess possible biological effects of EMF. C.elegans serve as an initial screening tool for evaluating possible EMF effects, helping to shed light on potential human-scale impacts. The following video shows the similarities between these worms’ biology and the human body’s:
The Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment at the National Research Council of Italy (IREA-CNR) has a Bioelectromagnetics Laboratory, which is fully equipped to conduct experiments in diverse frequency ranges. There, human cell cultures and C.elegans are used to investigate the effects of RF exposure across different frequency ranges on cancer-related outcomes:
Belgian NextGEM partners Sciensano, on their side, showed us the premises of the Belgian Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP), where they have assembled an EMF exposure system for human testing. They will conduct short, acute exposure sessions (45 minutes) at 5G frequencies (26.5 GHz) on healthy volunteers. This study aims to explore whether the controlled exposure could influence various parameters in red blood cells: