​MIT scientists create music from protein chains. Image: MIT/ACS

Amino acids (the organic compounds that make up proteins) have major bragging rights as the building blocks of all life on Earth. But a new study shows that amino acids are also talented musical composers, provided that humans first convert their tunes into audible frequencies.

The amino acid chains that make up proteins can [be easily visualized](http://news.mit.edu/2019/translating-proteins-music-0626) as a sequence of musical notes, according to Markus Buehler, a materials scientist at MIT. Buehler and his colleagues used the similarities between these sequences to convert 20 types of amino acids into a 20-tone scale. The results, published in [a study published Wednesday](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsnano.9b02180) in _ACS Nano_, include [trippy original songs](https://soundcloud.com/user-275864738) and fresh insights into protein structure.

Researchers reporting in ACS Nano have found a way to represent a protein’s structure as music. ACS Headline Science shows how the team translated proteins into musical compositions and then used AI to design new proteins.

“A Self-Consistent Sonification Method to Translate Amino Acid Sequences into Musical Compositions and Application in Protein Design using Artificial Intelligence” – Markus Buehler, Ph.D. (corresponding author)
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsnano.9b02180

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Making Music from Proteins - Headline Science

Honestly, it sounds pretty good, and I would go to this protein chain&#x2019;s DJ night. VICE music reporter Colin Joyce, when asked what he thought, described the composition entitled &#x201c;[Orchestra of Amino Acids](https://soundcloud.com/user-275864738/orchestra-of-amino-acids)&#x201d; as &#x201c;a budget version of the cyborg funk of early Autechre,&#x201d; which means the proteins are clearly big fans of 90s experimental electronic music.

This piece is constructed entirely from the sounds generated from amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Encoded by the DNA sequence, amino acids form chains that assembly into hierarchical materials that serve diverse functions in biology (as enzymes, structural materials, signal transmitters, and many others). 

All sounds used to compose this piece are generated from the sounds of amino acids, computed from their quantum mechanical vibrations, reflecting their elementary molecular features. For further details on the scientific foundation, see [1]. 

The main melody is derived from the amino acid sequence of three proteins:

1) 6cjc (adrenodoxin reductase, a flavoenzyme that is involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones; https://www.rcsb.org/structure/1CJC)
2) A de novo protein synthesized using a machine learning algorithm as reported in [1]
3) 194l (lysozyme enzyme; found in tears of humans and animals and egg white; https://www.rcsb.org/structure/194L)

The melodic backbone is composed of a progression from proteins 1) to 2) to 3). Motifs derived from these proteins are used throughout to generate repetitive elements and to conjoin melodic concepts (e.g., segments extracted from 6cjc are used as transitional elements between 1cjc and the de novo protein and again during the transition to 194l. 

All rhythmic elements (bass drum, snare-like, hi-hat, and others) are generated from soundings of amino acids. Both melodic and rhythmic patterns used are derived from the three proteins cited above. 

No other synthetic or sampled sounds have been used in the composition. What you hear is a composition in the natural 20-tone amino acid scale. 

BACKGROUND:

Materials and music have been intimately connected throughout centuries of human evolution and civilization. Indeed, materials such as wood, animal skin or metals are the basis for most musical instruments used throughout history. Today, we are able to use advanced computing algorithms to blur the boundary between material and sound and use hierarchical representations of materials in distinct spaces such as sound or language to advance design objectives. The approach used in this work is that the translation of protein materials representations into music not only allows us to create musical instruments, but also enables us to exploit deep neural network models to represent and manipulate protein designs in the audio space. Thereby we take advantage of longer-range structure that is important in music, and which is equivalently important in protein design (in connecting amino acid sequence to secondary structure and folding). This paradigm goes beyond proteins but rather enables us to connect nanostructures and music in a reversible way, providing an approach to design nanomaterials, DNA, proteins, or other molecular architectures from the nanoscale upwards. 

Reference:

[1] C.H. Yu, Z. Qin, F. Martinez, M.J. Buehler, A Self-Consistent Sonification Method to Translate Amino Acid Sequences into Musical Compositions and Application in Protein Design using Artificial Intelligence, ACS Nano, in press, 2019

Orchestra Of Amino Acids by Markus J. Buehler

,&#x201d; in which the frequencies of amino acids are correlated to musical tones, has been around for several years. But Buehler&#x2019;s team developed a new twist on this tradition using an artificial neural network, a type of machine learning program that &#x201c;learns&#x201d; based on input data.

This piece is constructed entirely from the sounds generated from amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Encoded by the DNA sequence, amino acids form chains that assembly into hierarchical materials that serve diverse functions in biology (as enzymes, structural materials, signal transmitters, and many others).

All sounds used to compose this piece are generated from the sounds of amino acids, computed from their quantum mechanical vibrations, reflecting their elementary molecular features. For further details on the scientific foundation, see [1].

The main melody is derived from the amino acid sequence of a silk protein and an amyloid protein. 

Motifs derived from these two proteins are used throughout to generate repetitive elements and to conjoin melodic concepts.

All rhythmic elements (bass drum, snare-like, hi-hat, and others) are generated from soundings of amino acids. Both melodic and rhythmic patterns used are derived from the two proteins cited above.
No other synthetic or sampled sounds have been used in the composition. What you hear is a composition in the natural 20-tone amino acid scale.

BACKGROUND:

Materials and music have been intimately connected throughout centuries of human evolution and civilization. Indeed, materials such as wood, animal skin or metals are the basis for most musical instruments used throughout history. Today, we are able to use advanced computing algorithms to blur the boundary between material and sound and use hierarchical representations of materials in distinct spaces such as sound or language to advance design objectives. The approach used in this work is that the translation of protein materials representations into music not only allows us to create musical instruments, but also enables us to exploit deep neural network models to represent and manipulate protein designs in the audio space. Thereby we take advantage of longer-range structure that is important in music, and which is equivalently important in protein design (in connecting amino acid sequence to secondary structure and folding). This paradigm goes beyond proteins but rather enables us to connect nanostructures and music in a reversible way, providing an approach to design nanomaterials, DNA, proteins, or other molecular architectures from the nanoscale upwards.

Reference:

[1] C.H. Yu, Z. Qin, F. Martinez, M.J. Buehler, A Self-Consistent Sonification Method to Translate Amino Acid Sequences into Musical Compositions and Application in Protein Design using Artificial Intelligence, ACS Nano, in press, 2019

Concert Of Silk And Amyloid by Markus J. Buehler

The compositions created by the 20 amino acids were studied by the AI, which then riffed on them by introducing slight permutations into the sheet music. Those altered compositions were converted back into a conceptual amino acid chain, which enabled the team to generate variations of proteins that have never been seen in nature.

This piece is constructed entirely from the sounds generated from amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Encoded by the DNA sequence, amino acids form chains that assembly into hierarchical materials that serve diverse functions in biology (as enzymes, structural materials, signal transmitters, and many others).

All sounds used to compose this piece are generated from the sounds of amino acids, computed from their quantum mechanical vibrations, reflecting their elementary molecular features. For further details on the scientific foundation, see [1].

The main melody is derived from the amino acid sequence of a the lysozyme enzyme with Protein Data Bank identifier 194l.  Motifs derived from this  proteins are used throughout to generate repetitive elements and to conjoin melodic concepts.

Learn more about lysozyme here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysozyme

All rhythmic elements (bass drum, snare-like, hi-hat, and others) are generated from soundings of amino acids. Both melodic and rhythmic patterns used are derived from the protein cited above. No other synthetic or sampled sounds have been used in the composition. What you hear is a composition in the natural 20-tone amino acid scale.

BACKGROUND:

Materials and music have been intimately connected throughout centuries of human evolution and civilization. Indeed, materials such as wood, animal skin or metals are the basis for most musical instruments used throughout history. Today, we are able to use advanced computing algorithms to blur the boundary between material and sound and use hierarchical representations of materials in distinct spaces such as sound or language to advance design objectives. The approach used in this work is that the translation of protein materials representations into music not only allows us to create musical instruments, but also enables us to exploit deep neural network models to represent and manipulate protein designs in the audio space. Thereby we take advantage of longer-range structure that is important in music, and which is equivalently important in protein design (in connecting amino acid sequence to secondary structure and folding). This paradigm goes beyond proteins but rather enables us to connect nanostructures and music in a reversible way, providing an approach to design nanomaterials, DNA, proteins, or other molecular architectures from the nanoscale upwards.

Reference:

[1] C.H. Yu, Z. Qin, F. Martinez, M.J. Buehler, A Self-Consistent Sonification Method to Translate Amino Acid Sequences into Musical Compositions and Application in Protein Design using Artificial Intelligence, ACS Nano, in press, 2019

Concert of Enzyme Lysozyme by Markus J. Buehler

Though previous studies [have used amino acids](http://www.stephenandrewtaylor.net/amino-sonify.html) to make music, this is the first study that has also demonstrated that such compositions can be learned by an artificial neural network (AI) and translated back into protein sequences, Buehler said in an email.

If you&#x2019;re looking to get into an emerging genre of music, take a moment to indulge in some amino acid jazz.

Listen to Sick Tunes Created by Turning Proteins Into Music

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