The article below shows it is possible in the laboratory to control the operation of DNA with radio signals, by way of tiny "nano-antennas" attached to cell components and literally switch genes on and off.

While this is only short-range laboratory techology and not directly related to mind control as described on this site and others, it is more evidence that radio signals can affect body functioning in ways unknown to most of the general public. Discoveries like this underscore the need for governments to stop denying and start disclosing all such technology, and start seriously investigating reported abuses.

    Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of
    Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

    January 16, 2002
    Tech Talk

    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2002

    Scientists control biological materials with radio waves

    by Deborah Halber
    News Office

    It's not exactly "ET, phone home," but MIT researchers reported in
    the Jan.  10 issue of Nature that they can "speak" to DNA
    biomolecules with radio waves.

    The goal is to instruct biological materials how to act for a
    variety of purposes. Biological machines may one day be used to
    perform computation, assemble computer components or become part of
    computer hardware or circuitry. Radio-controlled biology may lead
    to single-atom or single-molecule machines, or the ability to hook
    tiny antennae into living systems to turn genes on and off.

    "Recent studies have provided new insights into the complexity,
    precision and efficiency of biomolecular machines at the molecular
    scale, inspiring the development of physical and chemical
    manipulation of biological systems," said Joseph M. Jacobson,
    associate professor at the Media Lab and one of the paper's
    authors. "Manipulation of DNA is interesting because it has been
    shown recently that is has potential as an actuator (a hard drive
    component) and can be used to perform computational operations."

    The researchers predict that radio frequency (RF) biology will have
    a broad range of applications. Because virtually all biological
    molecules can be linked with gold or other semiconducting
    nanoparticles, these molecules can be controlled electronically,
    remotely, reversibly and precisely, said Shuguang Zhang, associate
    director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering and another
    author of the study. Such systems will have profound implications
    for finely dissecting detailed molecular interactions and
    formations, he said.

                       SINGLE-ATOM MACHINES

    Jacobson, head of the Media Lab's Molecular Machine group, has a
    background in quantum physics. He became interested in using
    biology as a tool to create nanometer-length machines.

    The ultimate goal, he said, is a single-atom or single-molecule
    machine. It's hard to manufacture computer chips much smaller than
    30 nanometers, but biology has an excellent track record at
    creating tiny workable systems. The cell itself is a phenomenal
    little machine with its own power supply and memory. "If we're
    interested in molecular-scale machines, biology is a wonderful
    place to start," Jacobson said. He worked with researchers from the
    Center for Biomedical Engineering (CBE) to attach tiny
    radio-frequency antennae—a metal nanocluster of less than 100
    atoms—to DNA. When a radio-frequency magnetic field is transmitted
    into the little antennae, the molecule is zapped with energy and
    responds.

    Hybridization is the process of joining two complementary strands
    of DNA, or one each of DNA and RNA, to form a double-stranded
    molecule. In dehybridization, the strands unwind. Using this
    technique, the researchers dehybridized double-stranded DNA in a
    matter of seconds. The switching, which is reversible, did not
    affect neighboring molecules. Nanocrystals can be attached to
    proteins as well as to nucleic acids.

    This opens the possibility of switching more complex processes such
    as enzymatic activity, biomolecular assembly, gene expression and
    protein folding. The function of cells' components and the cell
    life cycle itself may be electronically regulated with radio
    frequency, Jacobson said. The goal is build molecules into systems
    that turn on and off depending on the electronic commands they
    receive.

    It may one day be possible to hook the antennae into living systems
    and turn genes on and off. "There are already numerous examples of
    nanocrystals attached to biological systems for the purpose of
    sensing," said co-author Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, a postdoctoral
    associate in the MIT Media Lab. "However, we hadn't come across any
    examples where they are used as a means of controlling the
    biology."

    "The development of molecular biology has witnessed many examples
    of ways to design new tools that accelerated uncovering nature's
    secrets," Zhang said. "Regulation of biomolecules using electronic
    RF control represents a new dimension in biology."

    The exquisitely fine electronic controls of biological regulation
    will likely become more and more important in understanding complex
    molecular interactions in great detail, he said, because there is
    currently no other way to achieve fine local control without
    disturbing neighboring molecules.  He likened the level of
    communication to using a mobile phone to convey a message to a
    single person in a crowd.

    "Radio-frequency biology provides us with some extraordinary tools
    and with unprecedented precision controls to study biomolecules and
    their interactions. These new tools and technologies will
    undoubtedly advance our knowledge in finest detail. It not only
    opens new avenues for us to ask big and deep questions but also to
    attain the ultimate answers in biology," Zhang said.

    In addition to Jacobson, Hamad and Zhang, the study's authors are
    John J. Schwartz, a former postdoctoral associate in the CBE who
    now works for engeneOS in Waltham, and Aaron Santos (S.B. 2001).
    Jacobson and Zhang also are affiliated with engeneOS, which designs
    and builds programmable biomolecular devices consisting of natural
    and non-natural materials for commercial applications.

    This work is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects
    Agency (DARPA) and the Media Lab's Things That Think consortium.

    January 16,  2002  Tech Talk MIT