Scientists develop new way of diagnosing diseases

Maybe you never thought that music and genes can be linked together, but the combination of the two may be able to change the medical diagnosis in the future. Music and genes are repetitive, and the number of choices is limited. A gene has 4 base pairs, and music has 12 kinds of notes. This logic is used to transform protein structures into melodies so that they are no longer passed through the eyes but analyzed with the ears. Researchers who put this idea say that their melodies can be used to teach protein science and can be used to determine mutations in the near future.

Researchers at the University of Tampere in Finland, the University of East Washington and the Francis Crick Institute in London, England, conducted research using recombinant horse proteins and believed that their technology can help scientists more easily identify abnormalities in proteins. "We believe that in the future, people will eventually hear the data and extract important information from it," says Jonathan Middleton, Ph.D. of the University of East Washington. "The ear may detect more information than the eye. If the ear can do that, then you can liberate your eyes and pay more attention to other things."

Proteins have many different functions, and they are usually studied through observation under the microscope with the eyes. Now, researchers use an "audible" technique to convert protein data information into melodies. The study, published in the journal Heliyon, aims to answer three main questions: What does the data sound like? Are there any benefits? Can we hear the anomaly from the data?

An introductory excerpt shows the melody of the 1r75 protein. Researchers hope that someday other molecules can also be converted to melodies or they can even "listen" to the complete genome. This melody was created by the combination of Dr. Middleton's compositional techniques and algorithms so that other people could use a similar process to write melodies for proteins. When people hear these melodies, a large number of people can recognize the connection between tone and vision (such as images and tables), which means "listening" proteins are simpler than imagined. According to them, these melodies sound wonderful, which can also encourage scientists to listen several times to more accurately analyze the protein. The protein data information is converted to melody using an "audible" technique.

"Protein folding is one of the most annoying parts of the molecular biology field," says Dr. Robert Bywater of the Francis Crick Institute. "Researchers need to identify not only the type of folding but also the clues to its many functions." Information is not easy, and music acts as a power to achieve the release of this information.

Researchers say their melodies can be used to teach protein science and to determine mutations in the near future. But its application is not limited to proteins. Researchers hope that in the future one day other molecules can also be converted to music and "audible" technique even can be used to listen to the entire genome. This multidisciplinary approach (combining genetics and music) provides a new perspective on the complex issues of biology. If you’re do related research, recombinant proteins including recombinant Itgb1 from Flarebio will be good choices for you.