The thermal effects of microwave radiation on living tissue are well-documented and strictly regulated. However, researchers are drawing attention to the fact that microwave radiation, even in extremely low doses, induces nonthermal influences whose biological consequences are largely unknown. In an article to be published in this month's issue of the Engineering Science and Education Journal, Gerard Hyland, a physicist at the University of Warwick in Coventry, posits a link between natural microwave activity in living organisms and the coherence of biophotons emitted uniformly across the visible spectrum. "The electric field across a cell membrane is 100,000 volts/per centimeter. Nature controls and exploits these fields ... by balancing them on each side of the membrane as electrical dipoles vibrating against each other," said Hyland. These vibrations are at microwave frequencies. In an adequately metabolizing biological system these vibrations synchronize in a way similar to the matching phase of coherent light waves. Hyland suggests that this is more than coincidence and asserts that in a faulty metabolism a loss of internal synchronicity increases the emission of lower-coherence biophotons. Hyland's research is conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Biophysics in Neuss, Germany. If it is substantiated, it means both bad news and good news. The bad news is that external microwaves, even in the extremely low levels produced by a cell phone, may disrupt the internal microwave patterns of the caller, possibly damaging cells' DNA. The good news is that this research could open new avenues for detecting diseases or evaluating crops by analyzing their biophoton emission. Hyland added that research in Russia and Ukraine already has begun exploring the application of quantum microwave doses for the treatment of many ailments ranging from cardiovascular to neurological diseases. "This could turn out to be our saving grace, since many kinds of bacteria are becoming immune to the pharmacological solution," said Hyland.