Sonifying Healthy and Unhealthy Eosinophil Glycocalyces

Boise State Vertically Integrated Project | 2025

This VIP project investigates how eosinophil glycocalyx data can be transformed into structured musical compositions to explore immune-related patterns through sound. The project focuses on mapping glycan features—such as monosaccharide composition, linkage type, branching, and modification patterns—onto musical parameters including melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, and texture. By doing so, the work investigates whether disease-associated changes in eosinophils, particularly in Eosinophilic Esophagitis, produce distinct and perceptible musical signatures.

Beyond its artistic dimension, this project serves as a novel framework for data interpretation and science communication. Musical representations may allow listeners to intuitively detect differences between healthy and diseased immune states, offering an alternative modality for understanding complex biological data. The long-term goal is to develop a reproducible, extensible sonification system that bridges molecular-scale biology with human perception, while also contributing to accessibility, interdisciplinary research, and creative scientific outreach.