美国国家公共电台 NPR--COVID's genetic code was loaded into a computer and interpreted as music

COVID's genetic¹ code was loaded into a computer and interpreted as music

Transcript²

A microbiologist set genetic strands³ to music to help scientists develop treatments to fight disease.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

This is the sound of the coronavirus.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

FADEL: COVID's genetic code has been fed into a computer and interpreted as music.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The person behind this is Mark Temple, a microbiologist in Sydney, Australia.

MARK TEMPLE: I'm both a musician and a scientist. So I thought, I'm well-placed here to actually approach this from a different angle. No one's really done this.

MART?NEZ: He developed a computer algorithm that assigns musical notes to DNA⁴ sequences. And he says it could help save lives.

TEMPLE: I heard about this thing called sonification. It's a way of using audio to analyze⁵ or to represent data. So I thought, well, could I get some DNA data and make audio from that?

FADEL: Generally, computers display DNA as lines and lines of letters.

TEMPLE: Each letter represents a module⁶ in the DNA sequence.

FADEL: But there are hundreds of thousands of letters in a sequence.

TEMPLE: It's like trying to read a book that has no punctuation⁷.

MART?NEZ: So Dr. Temple created a way to listen to the DNA while the letters scroll⁸ across the screen.

TEMPLE: Down at the bottom here is a DNA sequence. So let me just play this and you'll see what I mean.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

TEMPLE: So what you just heard then, those other little blips - like, I'll play one.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

TEMPLE: Like that one, blip. It's a stop codon, a little bit of sequence that's important to the cell. So because it's important, I put a blip on it.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

FADEL: Temple has updated DNA sonification, which has been around for about 40 years. This music you're hearing now is based on the DNA of insulin.

MART?NEZ: Which was turned into an album and released in the '90s for entertainment. Temple says music and science have a lot to offer each other.

(SOUNDBITE OF DR DAVID DREAMER AND RILEY MCLAUGHLIN'S "INSULIN A & B CHAINS")

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

7 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

8 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。