The Cells wonderous chant
Monday, March 1st, 2010Birds twittering, a Kricket‘s chirr, a whale‘s singing: Music is ubiquitous in nature. Recently scientists of the University of California in Los Angeles discovered that even cells produce tones by vibrating with their membranes.
"Singing" Cell | Picture: Andrew Pelling
From screaming sharply over rumbling dully, smacking noises or a hushed whisper – cells can be very musically and hold a whole repertoire of noises. With the help of nanotechnology the scientists for example discovered that healthy yeast cells are capable of performing what opera singers fail to do regularly: With about 1000 vibrations a minute, they easily produce a high C or D. Getting into contact with alcohol, they make a harsh noise in C-sharp and in D. Even genetically modified yeast cells change their timbre, cells which are dying off only grumble along dully. The scientists use an atomic force microscope, with which they only generated pictures of the cells so far, like the tone arm of a record player. The tip of the microscope touches, similar to the needle of a record player, the cell slightly, so it can measure the vibrations. The noises which are generated by the vibrations are amplified by a computer, so they are audible for a human‘s ear.
After the experiment with the yeast cells the biochemists experimented also with cancer cells. Because these cells differ in their activity from healthy cells, they produce different tones: Noises which sound like a badly tuned radio. Medical scientists hope now to be able to distinguish between ill and healthy cells and diagnose diseases or even predict them with the help of the sounds on the base of this new measuring method. Especially concerning the cancer research this would be a revolutionary step, because one would be able to detect cancer cells before the disease breaks out. A name for this new branch of science is already given: “Sonocytology” – research of the cells noises. This new discovery is also used culturally: Ín collaboration with chemists, the German media artist Anne Niemetz lets cells sing in a multimedia-Concert. Titel of this: “The Dark Side of the Cell” according to Pink Floyds “The Darkness of the Moon”.