Terahertz Radiation Effects and Biological Applications

We present a brief overview of the literature on biological applications and experimental data on the effects of THz radiation. The region of the electromagnetic spectrum from 0.1 to 10 THz is a frontier area for research in physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and medicine. This area has recently begun to be filled by a variety of sources of high quality radiation with a wide range of new technologies related to it. New sources have led to new science in many areas, as scientists begin to become aware of the opportunities for research progress in their fields using THz radiation. Therefore the opportunities for THz science in chemistry and biology are wide ranging. Some of them will extend the range of already established work, many others have not yet been realized but show great promise, and the rest fall somewhere in between.