The Chromochord: Biotech's First Musical Instrument Plays Proteins Like A Piano

Josiah Zayner writes: The Chromochord allows a musician to vibrate proteins quantum mechanically with light just like they would a piano string. The basis of the Chromochord is the engineered Light-Oxygen-Voltage protein domain from Avena sativa(Oat). Absorption of light causes the chromophore in the protein to undergo a quantum mechanical energy transition that reversibly changes the absorption spectra and whose measurement modulates the pitch of notes being played. Josiah Zayner, the inventor of the Chromochord, has been working with the composer Francisco Castillo Trigueros to create complex musical compositions based on this protein nanotechnology.