Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Grad Student Alexandra Pajak Composes 'Sounds of HIV,' Songs Using DNA of AIDS Virus

University of Georgia grad student Alexandra Pajak has composed an album of classical music inspired by the DNA that makes up the AIDS virus. It's an interesting new way to look at -- and hear -- the complexities of HIV.We're always hearing sobering news about the widespread AIDS epidemic, but, until now, you've probably never "heard" about HIV quite like this.

Alexandra Pajak, a graduate student at the University of Georgia, has just created a whole new way of looking at the complexities of HIV by combining the biology of the disease with music.

For months, Pajak carefully studied the different types of DNA that make up the AIDS virus and assigned musical pitches to each individual strand.

What resulted was a 17-track, 52-minute album of transcribed "DNA music," appropriately dubbed "Sounds of HIV.""I wanted to show all of the properties that the DNA in HIV contains. Hopefully it's a whole new way for people to learn about the science behind the disease," Pajak told AOL News.

The graduate student -- who studied music as an undergrad at Agnes Scott College -- said the project took her more than three painstaking months to complete because she wanted to compose the most accurate musical translation possible of the genetic code of HIV.

"I stayed very loyal to the DNA. Every segment of the virus was assigned music pitches that correspond to the segment's scientific properties. The sounds literally reflect the nature of the virus," she explained.

Pajak said she first broke down the basic nucleotides in the DNA -- scientifically abbreviated A,C,T and G -- and assigned tones to those. Luckily, A, C and G are also already musical pitches in the scale, so she said matching up that part was easy.

"There was a lot of logic involved in this. I also broke down 20 amino acids and proteins and assigned pitches to those. I used the A-minor scale for the amino acids based on their level of attraction to water. So, when you hear this CD, you're literally hearing the entire genome of the HIV virus. It's pretty cool," she added. ...

Pajak said she has no plans to add lyrics to her songs because that would interfere with the accuracy of the DNA music.

Out of respect for science, and those who have HIV, she said she won't be singing on the album anytime soon.

via Grad Student Alexandra Pajak Composes 'Sounds of HIV,' Songs Using DNA of AIDS Virus.

I heard some DNA music at the Exploratorium in San Francisco years ago and loved it. Listen to the HIV DNA translated into music here.

No comments: