The sound of proteins

Transforming proteins into signals, and analyzing their spectra using signal processing techniques (e.g., the Discrete Fourier Transform), has proven to be a suitable method for extracting information about the protein's biological functions. Along with imaging, sound is always found to be one of the helpful tools that have been used to characterize and distinguish objects, particularly, in medicine and biology. The aim of the current study is therefore to sonify (read “render with sound”) these signals, and to verify if the sounds produced with this operation are perceived as similar if generated from proteins with similar characteristics and functions, therefore if the information gathered through sound can be considered biologically and medically meaningful, and perceived as such. The approach taken was applied to distinguishing the influenza related proteins, namely H1N1 and H3N2 protein sets. The study, for the first time, reveals that sonification of the proteins allows to clearly separate the protein sets. This promising approach could be further utilized to open new research fields in biology and medicine.