Our Cells Can Hear Sound, With Potential for Medicine

Sound may prevent the formation of new fat cells.

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Human cells can “hear” sound waves, potentially changing how we treat conditions such as obesity, according to a new study from Kyoto University.

“I believe sound will be a unique tool to control cellular activities and [will] impact many related fields,” Masahiro Kumeta, an expert in cellular- and molecular-level biosciences and corresponding author, told The Epoch Times.

How Sound Affects Cells

Sounds may not be perceived only by ears and brains, but also by our cells.

The study, recently published in Communications Biology, involved exposing cultured cells to sound waves using a device designed to emit vibrations.

By connecting a digital audio player to a diaphragm placed in a cell culture dish, researchers were able to observe how cells reacted to two to 24 hours of exposure to different sound frequencies both audible and inaudible to humans.

They found that sound within the audible range led to significant cellular responses, including a reduction in the transformation of precursor cells into fat cells. This means the sound prevented the formation of fat cells.

Kumeta and his team designed a system to surround cultured cells with sound waves. They used a set of sound patterns, which included white noise as well as single-frequency sounds at 440 Hz and 14 kHz, representing a low and high frequency within the human audible range, respectively.

According to Kumeta, the properties of sound could be used to treat obesity without surgery—simply by attaching a sound-generating device to the body.

“Because sound is a non-material physical phenomenon, it will be a safe, immediate, and highly permeable tool to transfer stimulation deep inside the body,” Kumeta said.

However, he said that his current findings are limited to the cultured cell level, and he and his team are now trying to demonstrate the effect of sound in a mouse model.

The researchers also identified approximately 190 genes that respond to sound and studied how sound influences how cells stick together.

This research “opens the door” to using specific sound frequencies to influence how our cells behave—without surgery, drugs, or direct physical contact, Dr. Joseph Mercola, a board-certified family medicine osteopathic physician who was not part of the study, told The Epoch Times.

“For example, if a sound wave can slow down or halt the development of fat cells, as this study suggests,” Mercola noted, “then you may be able to use sound therapeutically.”

Broader Medical Implications

The findings hint at new ways to promote tissue healing, guide stem cell differentiation, or calm overactive immune responses using controlled sound waves in a medical setting, Mercola said.

“Because sound is energy, not matter, this approach avoids introducing anything foreign into your body. That makes it safer and more precise, especially for delicate or inflamed tissues.”

The findings suggest it’s possible to support wound healing and nerve repair, and influence stem cell activation without using drugs or surgery, Jason Sonners, who has a doctorate in molecular biology and regenerative medicine, told The Epoch Times. “It’s a low-risk tool with a potentially high upside.”

According to Sonners, this study is a “powerful” reminder of how responsive our bodies are to our environments, “not just chemical or mechanical forces,” but to frequencies such as light and sound.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Connections

The research provides scientific validation for practices long embraced by traditional healing systems.

The ancient Chinese believed that music can have an impact on our bodies, Jamie Bacharach, a medical acupuncturist at Acupuncture Jerusalem, told The Epoch Times. “Anecdotal tales passed down over the centuries by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners suggest music has the ability to influence the internal workings of our body,” she said.

Jason Chong, a traditional East Asian medicine physician, told The Epoch Times that in East Asian medicine, specific tones are understood as resonating with different elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. They can be seen as respectively correlating with the musical notes E, G, C, D, and A in the key of C.

He said that there are also lineages of TCM that observe relationships between specific tempos and certain organs—for example, 108 beats per minute (BPM) is considered beneficial for the liver, 120 BPM for the kidneys, and 126 BPM for the heart and lungs. The idea is that sound vibrations at certain tempos resonate with these organs, helping to restore balance and promote healing.

Bacharach stated that we can stimulate our “energetic meridians,” which, according to TCM, are energy pathways connected to our organs, and regulate the organs associated with them when we purposefully use these sounds, “whether through vocal toning, listening, or instruments tuned to particular frequencies.”

Possible New Frontier in Medicine

Professor Lixing Lao, president of the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine, acknowledged the study’s limitations, noting that the researchers did not specify which tones affect which genes. “Nevertheless, it could be the first step of future research to identify specific sounds/tones for specific illnesses,” he said.

“Sound is a vital source of environmental information for living beings,” Kumeta said. “Its capacity to induce physiological responses at the cell level is only just beginning to be understood.”

Mercola said he’s excited by the idea that we could one day walk into a clinic, lie down, and receive a targeted sound-based treatment that affects cells in real time—no pills, no needles needed.

“It’s still early,” he said. “But this work helps reframe sound not as background noise, but as a language your cells understand. That kind of insight doesn’t just change medicine—it changes how you think about being alive in a world filled with vibration.”