Biologist Converts Protein Into Classical Music

Every protein has its own unique sequence. By assigning each sequence its own unique auditory signature, UCLA scientists were hoping to be able to “listen” to their research.

We want to see if we can hear patterns within the music, as opposed to looking at the letters of an amino acid or protein sequence. "We can listen to a protein, as opposed to just looking at it," said Rie Takahashi, a UCLA research assistant and an award-winning, classically trained piano player.

Jeffrey H. Miller, distinguished professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, and a member of UCLA's Molecular Biology Institute, had been considering the project for years but needed help from someone who was both a molecular geneticist and a serious classical musician. Takahashi fit the bill and the two began working on the project.

"Many scientists like classical music," Takahashi notes. "Before I took a course from Dr. Miller, those two worlds were separate in my mind. To bridge the two is very rewarding. My piano teacher doesn't have a science background, but when I use music to explain proteins to him, it goes from gibberish to something that really interests him."

Even Diseases apparently have a pleasant Chopinesque sound, like the prion responsible for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Link: Prion Music http://www.mimg.ucla.edu/faculty/miller_jh/gene2music/AUDIO/brainprion.mid

Or here’s the lively converted sounds of hemoglobin found in the aquatic Chironomous insect.
Link: The Sound of Chironomous Hemoglobin
http://www.mimg.ucla.edu/faculty/miller_jh/gene2music/AUDIO/hemoglobinchironomus.mid