ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ***************************************************************************** Charley; Thanks for the note. I completely forgot about your exhibit. I guess this is an opportunity for visitors to the web to do the activity at home. Martin > >Martin, > >FYI: You should be aware that we made an exhibit called musical >mutants that was on the floor for about 10 years. It basically >provided comparative DNA gene sequences, converted to amino acid >sequences and musical notes, so that visitors could do comparisons >between various sequences. We used Thymidylate Synthase as one of >the sequences, and F1-ATPase (?), hemoglobin, and one other. It was >a noisy, popular, engaging exhibit, and understanding varied with >prior knowledge and experience. >C >On May 9, 2007, at 8:25 AM, martin weiss wrote: > >>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers >>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related >>institutions. >>***************************************************************************** >> >> This article >>(http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070430/full/070430-7.html) and the >>gene2music site >>(http://www.mimg.ucla.edu/faculty/miller_jh/gene2music/examples.html) >>seem to expand on the science song discussion we had earlier. >>Unfortunately the interface to create music from gene sequence is >>not easy or intuitive However, they do provide examples of music >>created from protein sequence data >>(http://www.mimg.ucla.edu/faculty/miller_jh/gene2music/examples.html) >> >> From the Summary of the project: >> >>The primary goal of this work is to convert genome-encoded protein >>sequences into musical notes in order to hear auditory protein >>patterns. Although there have been previous efforts to do this, one >>of the main problems has involved the large jumps between >>consecutive notes in a 20 note range (2.5 octaves) that results >>from a one-to-one amino acid-to-musical note assignment. Some other >>concerns include assigning rhythm, dynamics, and accompaniment >>according to the characteristics of the protein sequence. >>We derived a reduced 13 base note range according to hydrophobicity >>and pairing of similar amino acids. The amino acid pairs were >>differentiated using variants of three-note chords, namely the root >>position and first inversion chords. A rhythm has been encoded into >>the musical sequence according to the organism's codon distribution >>used in the genome-encoded protein sequence. Such a designation >>allows each amino acid to be represented by different note >>durations. The result is a set of rules that produces musical >>compositions that can be applied to any protein sequence [1]. As an >>example, we have used a prototype human protein, Thymidylate >>Synthase A (ThyA). A detailed description of our coding assignment >>can be found in the Project Evolution. >> >>In addition to the primary goal, we also aim to use this conversion >>to help make protein sequences more approachable and tangible for >>the general public and children. The project also opens >>opportunities for visually impaired scientists to access protein >>sequences more readily. We show and allow one to listen to examples >>of several proteins translated into music by these methods and also >>provide the opportunity for others to convert their own gene of >>interest using our GENE2MUSIC program. >> >>Martin >>-- >>Martin Weiss, Ph.D >>Vice President, Science >>New York Hall of Science >>47-01 111 th Street >>Corona, New York 11368 >>718 699 0005 x 356 >> >>*********************************************************************** >>More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the >>Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at >>http://www.astc.org. >> >>The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from >>L-Soft. To learn more, visit >>http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. >> >>To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the >>message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to >>[log in to unmask] > >Charles Carlson >Director of Life Sciences >exploratorium >3601 Lyon St. >San Francisco, CA 94123 >[log in to unmask] >Tel: 415-561-0319 >Fax: 415-561-0370 > > > >*********************************************************************** >More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the >Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org. > >The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from >L-Soft. To learn more, visit >http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. > >To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the >message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to >[log in to unmask] -- Martin Weiss, Ph.D Vice President, Science New York Hall of Science 47-01 111 th Street Corona, New York 11368 718 699 0005 x 356 *********************************************************************** More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org. The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask]