State-of-the-Art of Studies of the Effect of Terahertz Radiation on Living Biological Systems

Abstract

The appearance of modern sources and detectors of terahertz radiation (10¹¹–10¹³ Hz) stimulated the rapid development of practical applications for radiation in this frequency range. Therefore, the question of the safety of terahertz radiation for living objects was sharply raised. In this review, we present an analysis of research on this issue published from 2010 to the present. A brief description of the most significant works performed before 2010 is given. Particular attention is paid to the sources of terahertz radiation used in the studies and the results of experimental work on the study of possible bioeffects when such radiation is applied to both individual cell lines and microorganisms and animals generally.