- Wissenschaft & Kunst (Science & Art) - 

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Evolutionary improvisation on themes of Beta Globins

The alpha and beta globins, which combine to form the hemoglobin
of red blood cells (see image below), are members of a large and ancient multigene family.
The common function of the globins is to bind oxygen for transport.
Each of the two alpha and two beta chains of hemoglobin can bind one oxygen molecule.
Some amino acid substitutions in the beta globin sequence
have accumulated over the millions of years of development
that separate the major lineages of the placental mammals.
These changes can be seen as improvisational riffs by different species
on the basic beta globin sequence.

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Details:

Making of genetic and protein music:

Proteins are composed of sequences of subunits called amino acids. We know 20 of them: A = alanine  C = cysteine  D = aspartate  E = glutamate  F = phenylalanine G = glycine  H = histidine  I = isoleucine  K = lysine  L = leucine M = methionine  N = asparagine  P = proline  Q = glutamine  R = arginine S = serine  T = threonine  V = valine  W = tryptophan  Y = tyrosine The twenty amino acids can be assigned to a musical scale, for example the C-major scale below: In this example the amino acids are ordered from hydrophobic = water-insoluble (I «» c) to hydrophilic = water-soluble (R «» a2), as far as possible. The duration of each note varies with the number of DNA (DesoxyriboNucleic Acid) codons associated with the amino acid. The DNA codons are part of the genetic information for protein synthesis on the chromosomes of each cell's nucleus. The last three codons to sound are stop codons and do not correspond to any amino acid. To make proteins function the right way, allowing them to bind to or interact with other substances, they are folded in three dimensions. Here is the 3D-structure of Hemoglobin: Different folds (or other features) may be assigned to different instruments. For more detailed information please follow the link on the author page of Mary Anne Clark.

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