Scientists have turned the structure of the coronavirus into music

You’ve probably seen dozens of images of the novel coronavirus—now responsible for 1 million infections and tens of thousands of deaths. Now, scientists have come up with a way for you to hear it: by translating the structure of its famous spike protein into music.

The sounds you hear - bells, strings, flutes - all represent different aspects of this spike-shaped protein (above) that sits on the surface of the virus and helps it cling to cells. Like all proteins, these spikes are made up of combinations of amino acids. Using a new technique called "sonification," scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have assigned each amino acid a unique note in a musical scale, converting this protein into a musical score.

But in real life, these amino acids tend to twist into a helix or stretch into a sheet. Researchers are capturing these characteristics by altering the length and volume of notes. Molecular vibrations due to heat also produce their own sounds. But why set a virus to music? This format can help scientists find sites on this protein where antibodies or drugs might bind - simply by looking for specific musical sequences that match these sites.

A more intuitive way to study spike proteins
According to the researchers, this method is faster and more intuitive than traditional methods used to study proteins, such as molecular modeling. They add that by comparing the music sequence of the spade protein with a large database of other proteins that have been transformed into music, it may one day be possible to find the one that can bind to the spade - preventing the virus from infecting a cell.

As for the instruments, they were chosen entirely by the researchers. In this case, a Japanese koto plays the main notes - soothing sounds that could provide some comfort in difficult times.