– Parnad Basu, Amity University Kolkata
Sonification is a branch of the auditory display which can convert information into nonspeech audio. A web tool made it possible. This web tool can generate audio using algorithms abiding the biological rules. The broadly represented two modes operated by the web tool are translation and transcription. In translation and transcription, a play head substitutes for a ribosome or RNA replicase /polymerase respectively.
An auditory stream was generated by overlaying multiple audio layers, where every layer is derived from an RNA motif or metadata. This marks the region(s) to be sonified. If there were no changes in between two consecutive features, it was allowed to play for a longer time. An additional note was assigned to stop codons (UAG, UGA, UAA). To detect ORF (open reading frame), overlapping codons were sonified. In the visual display, codons were shown using the single letter amino acid representation.
In an individual algorithm, it was concluded that identifying mutations in repetitive DNA, sonification of codons was necessary. In this case, RNA was the feature of interest. This approach leads to a more rich and detailed auditory display. Which then complements an animated visual display. To mimic what occurs during the Coronavirus life cycle, metadata was used to affect the behaviour of the display. In transcription, the default setting is to read through the entire genome sequence to produce a complementary minus strand. There is also a toggle switch and a navigation button for mimicking discontinuous transcription and overriding TRS1 (transcription regulatory sequences 1) respectively. In translation, toggle helps the play head to skip the polyprotein and TRS1 to Surface Glycoprotein sequence. The auditory display provides a unique insight describing the metabolism of the RNA genome to further understand the complex functionalities of the viral genome.
Also read: Pet bearded dragons droppings cause Salmonella outbreak: Question is are they safe?
Reference- Temple, M.D. Real-time audio and visual display of the Coronavirus genome. BMC Bioinformatics 21, 431 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-020-03760-7
PerkinElmer Life Science Document Control Specialist Job Opening
-Shristi Sharma, Team bioXone PerkinElmer is a global technology leader driving growth and initiative in the Environmental and Human Health Science markets. PerkinElmer Genomics is one of the world’s largest providers of newborn screening services and offers comprehensive genetic testing solutions that help provide insight into the complex nature of rare and inherited diseases. The […]