We report the first use of pulsed terahertz spectroscopy to examine low-frequency collective vibrational modes of biomolecules. Broadband absorption increasing with frequency was observed for lyophilized powder samples of calf thymus DNA, bovine serum albumin and collagen in the 0.06-2.00 THz (2-67 cm(-1)) frequency range, suggesting that a large number of the low-frequency collective modes for these systems are IR active. Transmission measurements at room temperature showed increasing FIR absorption with hydration and denaturing.