SPATIAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS SONIFIED
An immersive / interactive sound installation
Sample excerpt [jump around to hear different gene expressions sonified]…
A sonification that uses spatial transcriptomic data to map gene expression in tumor microenvironment to representative musical sounds.
This research-creation project came about thanks to Marie-Dominique Franco (Director of Operations, Institut Cancer et Immunologie), who first introduced and encouraged me to explore this research area.
Data: Multi omics analysis revealing transition to invasive breast cancer GSE290924, Lin et al., GEO, 2025 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE290924
This STOMICS piece is designed to also play and interact in tandem with Cytotoxicity Interactive Sound Installation as well as live improvisation which actively reflects on the dynamics of subjectivity and perception in scientific processes.
This piece maps gene expression in the tumor microenvironment using spatial transcriptomic data. For this initial test, I used only 10 genes from one of the six patients in the study. Ultimately this could be expanded in many ways.
- Assigning instruments to genes
e.g. alarm bells = oncogene, tabla = tumor suppressor, clicking percussion = cell division, “sticky” sounding electric piano = adhesion - Using pitch to reflect expression level
- Using tempo to track changes over spatial zones
Basic sonification design…
This piece also combines to play at the same time as the plant cytotoxicity sonification installation. Together, the two pieces bring macro and micro scales of bio technology and data into shared acoustic space — shaped through listening and music.
This dialogue between the site-specific (plant-based) and the molecular (gene-based) reflects the spirit of this work, and of my residency between IMéRA and the Institut Cancer et Immunologie (AMU).