The Structure of DNA

folk, educational · 2:33

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Lyrics

[Verse 1]
In a lab with X-rays bright, Franklin aimed her beam just right
At crystals made of DNA, to see what secrets they would say
The patterns danced across her screen, mysterious and unseen
Photo Fifty-One held the key, to life's greatest mystery

[Chorus]
Fourier transforms decode the light
Turn scattered rays to structure bright
From diffraction comes the truth we see
The double helix, spiraling free
X-pattern tells the twisted tale
Math and science never fail

[Verse 2]
The X-ray hits the crystal face, atoms scatter light through space
Each reflection tells a story, of molecular territory
But raw data's just a maze, needs algorithms to decode the rays
Fourier analysis shows the way, from chaos comes the grand display

[Chorus]
Fourier transforms decode the light
Turn scattered rays to structure bright
From diffraction comes the truth we see
The double helix, spiraling free
X-pattern tells the twisted tale
Math and science never fail

[Bridge]
Watson, Crick took Franklin's work
Used her data in the murk
Built a model, claimed the fame
But the algorithms stayed the same
Crystallography's the tool
Mathematics makes the rule

[Verse 3]
Now we see proteins unfold, their secrets ready to be told
Drug design and medicine, all started with that X-ray spin
From one mystery solved so well, countless others we can tell
The structure of our DNA, algorithms showed the way

[Chorus]
Fourier transforms decode the light
Turn scattered rays to structure bright
From diffraction comes the truth we see
The double helix, spiraling free
X-pattern tells the twisted tale
Math and science never fail

[Outro]
When mysteries hide in scattered beams
Mathematics reveals the dreams
Transform the data, find the shape
Let algorithms help escape
The puzzle of our DNA
Solved by math that lights the way

← The Cicada 3301 Puzzles (2012-2014) | The Human Genome Project →