You’ve probably seen lots of visual representations of coronavirus on the news. But now, scientists have come up with a way for you to hear it. They’ve turned the structure of its famous spike protein into music. But why?
All the sounds in the clip above chart different qualities of the spikelike protein that jut out from the surface of the virus and allow it to grasp onto cells in the human body, using a process called sonification. These protein spikes are made of sequences of amino acids. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology assign each amino acid an individual note in a musical scale, converting the entire protein into song. Amino acids also present themselves in different structures, some curling up into a helix and others stretch out flat. Music allows these features to be captured by altering the volume and length of notes, allowing rhythm and dynamics to represent form while melody and harmony represent the building blocks of the protein spike.
As for the instruments, this was up to the scientists. In this case, instruments like Japanese koto and flute have been chosen - designed to reassure and bring a little comfort in a time of trouble. In fact, Scientist Markus J Buehler, says
"As you listen to the protein you will find that the intricate design results in incredibly interesting and actually pleasing, relaxing sounds. This doesn't really convey the deadly impacts this particular protein is having on the world. This aspect of the music shows the deceiving nature of the virus, how it hijacks our body to replicate, and hurts us along the way. So, the music is a metaphor for this nature of the virus to deceive the host and exploit it for its own multiplication."
But why would you set a virus to music? Surely, it must be more than for the beauty of the music.
Well it turns out it is. The new auditory format can help scientists find places on the protein where antibodies or drugs might be able to bind by searching for specific musical sequences that correspond to these sites. Conventionally researchers have used visual methods like molecular modelling to study proteins, however some scientists find sonification a more intuitive format that allows them to work faster and with a more complete understanding.
Sonification also allows scientists who have visual impairments to study data easily. In fact, the process was pioneered by blind astronomer, Wanda Diaz Merced, who lost her sight in her twenties. For an astrophysicist, her loss of sight could have signalled the end of her exploration of space data. However, Wanda discovered another way to access, analyse, and interpret it - she listened to it. She soon realised that discoveries can be made and patterns that can be identified by listening and she could uncover connections obscured by graphs and visual representation. In fact, some of her sighted colleagues have been listening to the data to get a more rounded view. It also allows sighted scientists to multitask, a researcher might, for example, write a paper while listening for audio cues in data.
Sonification also has wider uses than studying viruses and space and some scientists are looking at how they can use it in the broader world. Scientists at Stony Brook University are looking at how to use data sonification to help people with Parkinson’s disease walk more easily. By attaching motion sensors onto the feet of people with and without Parkinsons they were able to record information on the gait of the walkers. They then turned various aspects of those gaits (how long each step lasts, or the first part of the foot to land on the ground) into music. Though the song wasn’t particularly tuneful they hope to develop ways for Parkinson’s patients to listen to their live data and use that data as a guide to correct their steps as they walk.
In Anglia Ruskin University sonification data is being used to develop new ways to help athletes perform better and reduce injury. Sports Scientist Dr. Genevieve Williams explains this in a much more succinct way that I could.
"Our brains are 'hard-wired' to understand and internalise this audio feedback in ways much more powerful than visual perception. For an athlete in training, audio feedback can keep him or her on track even when they are not under the scrutinising eye of the coach. Also, patients in physical therapy who need to perform their exercises on their own."
And sonification is not just for scientists! New York City-based data visualisation artist Brian Foo coded a song using the median income numbers from the U.S. Census. It shows the crescendos and dips of wealth as 2 trains travel through the boroughs of New York like Brooklyn and the Bronx, or areas like Wall Street, allowing people to understand income disparity in a more immersive and visceral way.
One of my favourite of Foos works in one in which he explores race and gender in recent blockbuster films. Musical tones are separated into four categories: actors who identify as white men, white women, men of colour and women of colour. It is apparent very quickly that the song is, in fact, pretty dull. It’s lack of dynamics and unchanging nature shows the data set is not very dynamic and unchanging, highlighting a lack of diversity. I really love this use of sonification, it allowed me to connect emotionally with the data and understand what is going on beyond the numbers. I’d love to know what you thought?
Hearing data, not just seeing it, could be a transformative tool of the future, especially in times of massively multiplying information. I am certainly interested to see if this becomes more common practice. Music is a creative, inclusive and useful way of analysing those piling numbers, allowing us to look at data and the world in a whole new way.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE GET IN TOUCH OR BOOK A LESSON HERE.
Resources
Musical Score: https://soundcloud.com/user-275864738/viral-counterpoint-of-the-coronavirus-spike-protein-2019-ncov
Data Collection: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522085217.htm
Wanda Diaz: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/stem-for-everyone-wanda-diaz-merced
Science and Culture: Musicians join scientists to explore data through sound
:https://www.pnas.org/content/114/18/4563.full
Sonified Data in Sport: https://www.geant.org/News_and_Events/CONNECT/Pages/Where-data-sonification-and-sports-medicine-meet.aspx
