Citizen's blog post questions Biochemical Journal's retraction of a 2007 paper on non-thermal mobile phone effects, almost 20 years on

October 24, 2026 (EMFS)

Sep 27, 2026 (original)

Source: Systems Haywire

Source category: People's Voice

Fred Malherbe, a South African who writes the Substack newsletter Systems Haywire, objects to Biochemical Journal's retraction of Friedman et al. (2007). That paper reported that radiation well below the output of a single mobile phone rapidly activated the ERK signalling cascade in human cells without heating the culture medium, and Malherbe regards it as the one fully worked-out molecular mechanism for non-thermal mobile phone effects. The journal says a reader flagged problems with how the data were presented, and that its review found duplicated bands and image manipulation across all eight data figures, while stating that deliberate misconduct is not believed to be involved.

Note: The Substack piece is written by a citizen who describes 22 years of campaigning against cell towers.

EMF Signal checked the publication record independently: The original paper appeared in August 2007 and is free to read in PubMed Central, an Expression of Concern followed in October 2020, and the retraction notice (also see the PubMed listing) was published in October 2024.

The 2024 retraction notice states that "The authors have agreed with this action and are preparing a new corrected article that will be submitted to the Journal for peer review", but EMF Signal has not been able to find any such corrected article published since.

Quotes

"The problems are not believed to represent intentional scientific misconduct by the authors, however, who were able to provide a new set of data figures without the noted problems. Nonetheless, given the extent of the concerns identified, which affect all eight data figures in the paper, the Society and Journal have decided to retract the article rather than publish a correction of unprecedented scope at this late stage."

— Biochemical Journal retraction notice, as reproduced by Systems Haywire

"It's the only paper I know that provides a complete, fully worked-out molecular mechanism, literally down to the individual enzyme that first reacts to the microwaves, to explain a drastic non-thermal effect of cellphone radiation."

— Fred Malherbe

"This study had been cited over 450 times in the literature. I corresponded briefly with the lead author in 2017 and he assured me that there hadn’t been a single substantial challenge to anything in the paper. All the other research extended and amplified its findings. I had put this paper to industry CEOs, top officials at WHO and many other agencies, academics, government radiation health officials, plus the whole range of the media, explaining that it blew the entire radiation protection racket straight out of the water. None of them was ever able to provide a response beyond running for cover. So when I saw in 2025 that this paper had been retracted, I was very deeply shocked. I wrote to the lead author several times without reply. I asked around all my networks, including an email list of over 100 top academics and activists in this field. I wrote to Microwave News, the most authoritative source in this murky field. No one knew what was going on. "

— Fred Malherbe

"So the accusation is extremely unclear and ambiguous in both suggesting and not suggesting deliberate manipulation of data."

— Fred Malherbe

Location

📍 World (International)

Source

The World's Most Important Paper Is Retracted systemshaywire.substack.com

Citizen's blog post questions Biochemical Journal's retraction of a 2007 paper on non-thermal mobile phone effects, almost 20 years on

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