The Sounds of HIV

There's a particular virus who's DNA sequence is composed of 9,181 nucleotides. That virus is HIV and University of Georgia graduate student Alexandra Pajak's new instrumental CD takes its "inspiration" from the virus' genome.

Sounds of HIV was released by Azica Records on October 26. The 17-track, 52-minute long album is Pajak's musical adaptation of the potentially-deadly HIV virus. Pajak assigned pitches to each of the four DNA nucleotides - AA for Adenine, C for Cytosine, G for Guanine, and D for Thymine. She explains: "Every segment was assigned music pitches that correspond to the segment's scientific properties. The sounds literally reflect the nature of the virus."

Pajak apparently became interested in how the HIV virus works when the genome sequence was announced in 2009. Not his first project of this sort, the composer recruited a band called "Sequence Ensemle" to record the album. Graciously, a portion of the proceeds from the album will support HIV and AIDS research at the Emory Vaccine Center. As Carl Schmid, a representative of the Center points out: "Anything to raise awareness and educate the public about AIDS is a good thing. By connecting AIDS to music, the album could even help reduce the stigma associated with the disease."

To learn more about understanding and living with HIV and AIDS, please click here.

Photo Credit: Mark Cummins