Calling trouble

mobile phone radiation can cause changes in human cells that might affect the brain, indicates a study conducted by Finland's radiation and nuclear safety authority. According to the study, exposure to radiation from mobile phones can cause increased activity in hundreds of proteins in human cells.

The researchers focused on changes in cells that line blood vessels and on whether such changes could weaken the functioning of the blood-brain barrier which prevents potentially harmful substances from entering the brain from the blood stream. They found that a protein called hsp27 linked to the functioning of the blood-brain barrier showed increased activity due to irradiation and pointed to a possibility that such activity could make the shield more permeable. "Increased protein activity might cause cells to shrink