Protein music (DNA music or genetic music) is a musical technique where music is composed by converting protein sequences or genes to musical notes. It is a theoretical method made by Joël Sternheimer, who is a physicist, composer and mathematician.[1][circular reference]
The first published references to protein music in the scientific literature are a paper co-authored by a member of The Shamen in 1996,[2] and a short correspondence by Hayashi and Munakata in Nature in 1984.[3]
In Gödel, Escher, Bach, Douglas Hofstadter draws similarities and analogies between genes and music.[4] It even proposes that meaning is constructed in protein and in music.[5]
The ideas that supports the possibility of creating harmonic musics using this method are:
Musical renditions of DNA and proteins is not only a music composition method, but also a technique for studying genetic sequences. Music is a way of representing sequential relationships in a type of informational string to which the human ear is keenly attuned. The analytic and educational potential of using music to represent genetic patterns has been recognized from secondary school to university level.[13]