Microwave radiation resonant with the natural phonon frequencies of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is shown to couple strongly to the breather modes of dsDNA under certain conditions. The excitation of the disruptive breather modes is controlled to a great extent by energy dissipation to its aqueous environment. For sufficiently high power-much higher than expected under ambient conditions-the breather solutions become unstable. Our analysis discounts the disruptive effect of low frequency, low power radiation on dsDNA. The authors hope to stimulate experiments via their analysis. The resulting data will dictate the future evolution of their models. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2740-2747, 2006