Bored with tedious mathematical equations, Susumu Ohno decided to convert chemical formulas for living cells into musical notes, to make patterns easier to study.

 

The result, which some experts say has no practical application, is a system for converting chemical formulas into melodies similar to classical music of the baroque and romantic eras, sometimes with an uncanny resemblance to the works of great composers, said the award-winning researcher at the Beckman Research Institute in Duarte, part of the City of Hope Medical Center.

 

Take for instance, Ohno's "Mouse Waltz."

 

Translated into sheet music and performed on the piano, a portion of mouse ribonucleic acid -- a complex genetic messenger substance -- sounds like a lively waltz, and parts sound like a faster tempo version of Frederic Chopin's Nocturne, Opus 55, No. 1, Ohno found.

 

"This is not surprising," Ohno said. "Nature follows certain physical laws -- the universe obeys them, as does the process of life. Music follows the same patterns as well."

 

The idea of converting genes to music came to him three or four years ago. He was searching for simpler patterns repeated within the complex structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, which is in every living cell and contains the genetic code which governs heredity.

 

Ohno said he invented a system to convert repetitious parts of the genetic equation into musical compositions.

 

"First we identity the repeating units. Then we try to find the appropriate melody for this unit. That's how we start. We find the sound combination that is melodious."

 

Genes are composed of four basic nucleic acids -- adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. In Ohno's system, each is assigned two consecutive musical notes, which are strung together as they occur in the gene's chemical formula.

 

Ohno said he doesn't use all sound combination within the structure because some just aren't melodious. He adds a secondary harmony loosely based on the same genetic patterns, and sets the tempo to fit the feeling of the melody, which is played on piano or violin.

 

"I think it's cute but I don't think it's profound," Leroy E. Hood, biology chairman at the California Institute of Technology, said recently.

 

Ohno, 59, holds the title of distinguished scientist at the Beckman Research Institute.

 

He moved from Topkyo in 1953 to join the institute, where his work on occasion gained national attention, including the Emory Prize in 1981 from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his work in reproductive genetics.

 

Ohno has converted to music the genes from a chicken's eye, from a rainbow trout, from slime mold, brewer's yeast and the human brain.

 

The musical score within a cancer-causing oncogene sounds somber, while the gene that bestows transparency to the lens of the eye is filled with trills and flourishes-- airy and light, he said.

 

Reversing the process -- converting music to chemistry -- works as well: When Ohno translated a funeral march by chopin from notes to chemical equations, entire passages appeared identical to a cancer gene found in humans, he said.