Probing of the microwave radiation effect on the green fluorescent protein luminescence in solution

Microwaves have a larger effect on the green fluorescent protein (GFP) fluorescence intensity than is observed by conventional thermal heating. Our measurements show that thermally heating a GFP solution from 7 to 40 °C results in a ∼1% decrease in fluorescence for every 1 °C. On the other hand, under 250 mW of localized microwave irradiation, the fluorescence can decrease by up to 3-10% with an accompanying temperature rise of only 1 °C.