Do Cells Get Sick Even Without Being Hit by Radiation?... The Culprits Behind 'Non-Targeted Effects (NTE)' are Quantum Entangle

• Published in the international journal Int. J. Mol. Sci., proposing an innovative quantum biology model to explain the 'non-targeted effects (NTE)' of ionizing radiation. • Interprets the cause of damage in cells not directly exposed to radiation as macroscopic quantum entanglement mediated by biophotons. • Elucidated the mechanism by which mutations are synchronized even in distant, unexposed cells through proton tunneling within DNA hydrogen bonds. [Quantum Biology Society] During radiation therapy for cancer treatment or space radiation exposure, a phenomenon occurs where not only the cells directly hit by ionizing radiation but also physically distant neighboring cells suffer damage such as genetic mutations, cell death, and genomic instability. This is known as 'Non-Targeted Effects (NTE)' or the 'Radiation-Induced Bystander Effect', and has remained a long-standing mystery in the field of radiobiology. The scientific community has previously attempted to explain this phenomenon through classical chemical mass transfer between cells, such as exosomes, gap junctions, or soluble signaling molecules. However, there were limits to fully explaining the overwhelming speed at which signals are transmitted and the permeability that overcomes physical barriers. Recently, a groundbreaking review paper was published that solved this macroscopic radiobiological puzzle through subatomic quantum mechanics. Published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Int. J. Mol. Sci.), this paper proposes a new integrated model suggesting that quantum entanglement and quantum tunneling strongly act at the base of radiation non-targeted effects. A joint research team, including Professor Carmel Mothersill of McMaster University in Canada and Bruno F. E. Matarèse of the University of Cambridge in the UK, led this innovative study. ■ Ultrafast Communication Beyond Chemical Signals, Biophotons and Quantum Entanglement According to the researchers, when ionizing radiation hits water molecules inside a cell, numerous reactive oxygen species (ROS) and entangled radical pairs are rapidly generated. During this process, cells subjected to radiation stress emit ultraweak photon emission (UPE), or biophotons. Rather than simple light scattering, these biophotons are strongly entangled with the quantum state (such as spin information) inside the radiation-exposed cells. When these entangled photons are absorbed at the speed of light by photoreceptor structures (e.g., cytochromes, mitochondrial networks) of surrounding unexposed cells (bystander cells), the damage information of the exposed cells is remotely replicated and synchronized without the movement of physical mediators. This suggests that the tissues of living organisms are connected by a massive quantum communication network. ■ The Invisible Ghost Causing DNA Mutations, Proton Tunneling The damage signal remotely transmitted through entanglement causes actual physicochemical mutations within the receiving cells. The researchers expanded upon the DNA mutation model proposed by Per-Olov Löwdin, explaining this through the proton tunneling mechanism. Protons within the hydrogen bonds connecting the DNA double helix face a high energy barrier that cannot be overcome by classical thermodynamic energy, but through the quantum tunneling phenomenon, they can pass right through the barrier and move to the opposite base. In unexposed cells where the radiation exposure signal (quantum entanglement and bioelectric field changes) has been transmitted, the probability of such quantum tunneling occurring changes, breaking the normal Adenine-Thymine (A-T) and Guanine-Cytosine (G-C) bonds and forming rare tautomers. As a result, despite not being directly hit by radiation, genetic coding errors and spontaneous mutations are induced by quantum tunneling. This study, which reinterprets radiation non-targeted effects into a quantum mechanical framework beyond the paradigm of intercellular chemical signaling, demands a fundamental paradigm shift in oncology and radiobiology in the future. The researchers emphasized that this quantum radiobiological perspective will provide groundbreaking insights into the development of shielding technologies to minimize side effects on normal tissues during future cancer radiation therapy, or new forms of nano-biomedical solutions that maximize treatment efficiency by reversely utilizing entanglement signals.