The Music of COVID-19

The Music of COVID-19

What if you could hear the coronavirus?

This is possible through sonification!

Sonification is the name given to the process of transforming data into sound. This technique is already used in astronomy, and in other fields of science, to observe patterns, expected or unexpected.

Figure 1. Photo of cotton in Pexels.

But how is it possible to turn biological material into music? Let’s take an example:

Remember those four letters in the DNA? ATCG? It’s like every letter in that one gets a grade.

So:

  • * A – do
  • * T – re
  • * C – me
  • * G – fa

This example was with DNA, but some scientists did this with other molecules:

Markus Buehler of MIT has created an algorithm to convert coronavirus protein amino acids into music! The peak protein is the one that binds to receptors in human cells when the virus infects you. It’s one of the main targets of vaccines, and you can listen to the music of this protein here.

Another scientist, Mark Temple,converted the genetic material of the virus – which is RNA – into musical notes. In this case, since 3 nucleotides (the letters of our genetic code) form an amino acid, the RNA code is much larger than that of the protein encoding. If each nucleotide was awarded a note, the song would be huge (and would have only 4 notes, since we only have 4 nitrogen bases of RNA – cytosine, guanine, adenine and uracil). So he created nucleotide patterns to make the music.

Have you ever thought it would be a unique experience to listen to your own proteins? When someone says you’re a work of art, believe me!

Would you like to hear it?

AUTHOR INFO
Suzana Dantas
I am Suzana Dantas, Brazilian and I live in Brasília, capital of Brazil, where the president of the republic resides. I am a journalist, a teacher, an editorial producer and a writer. Everything that refers to art and culture enchants me. I love to read, write, sing, play the piano, and travel. I am a self-taught researcher. I like to know news from Brazil and the world and from all areas.
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