Direct Deformation of DNA Using Intense Burst RF Electric Field

Abstract

This paper describes the effect of intense burst RF electric fields (IBRFFs) on DNA in living mammalian cells. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were placed between two parallel plane electrodes and exposed to the IBRFF with a MHz range frequency and an electric field strength of a couple of kV/cm. The IBRFF duration was fixed to 100 ps, which was sufficiently short so as to not raise the temperature of suspension media of the cell due to Joule heating. A single cell electrophoresis analysis, comet assay method, was employed to investigate the reaction of the intracellular DNA to the lBRFF. The experiment shows the MHz range and 2kV/cm IBRFF physically introduces the fragmentation to intracellular DNA