SONGAnalogous
A song about convergent evolution, and why a shared shape is not evidence of shared ancestry.
Topic
Songs
Biology songs with interactive lyrics. Select a highlighted line to reveal the science behind it.
26 interactives
SONG
SONGBefore the Morning
A song about sleep, memory consolidation, and why an all-nighter undoes the studying.
SONGBond, Fold, Function
A song about how proteins get their shape, from amino acid side chains to quaternary structure.
SONGEnergy In, Order Stays
Why cells need constant energy, how they stay ordered within the laws of thermodynamics, and how…
SONGFate Written in the Lab
A couple who carry an inherited condition weigh embryo testing, gene editing and a future of designer…
SONGFluid Mosaic
How the cell membrane works as a fluid mosaic of phospholipids, proteins, steroids and sugars.
SONGGolgi on the Line
A song about the Golgi apparatus, where proteins are checked, modified, sorted, and shipped.
SONGHeads to the Water
A song about the phospholipid bilayer, and why a membrane arranges itself around water.
SONGHigh to Low
A song about passive and active transport, from diffusion down a gradient to ATP-driven pumps.
SONGKeep It High
A song about surface area to volume ratio, and why growing cells run out of membrane.
SONGLight Is Good
How light splits water, builds a proton gradient, and makes the ATP and NADPH that feed the Calvin cycle.
SONGLysosomal Service
A song about lysosomes, the acidic sacs that digest, recycle, and clear out worn cell parts.
SONGMake It Two
How one cell copies its chromosomes and splits them evenly, so two daughter cells each get the whole…
SONGMiss, Learn, Move
A song about treating failed trials as evidence, from measurement error to repeating the work.
SONGMonomer to Monomer
A song about dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis, the paired reactions that build and break polymers.
SONGMove Left, Move Right
How a hormone outside a cell sets off a relay inside it, amplifies the message and ends in a new protein.
SONGPolymer-Racer
RNA polymerase reads one DNA strand to build mRNA, and other enzymes finish the transcript.
SONGPump Those Protons
Follow electrons through the mitochondrial electron transport chain to the proton gradient that makes…
SONGRapase
How enzymes lower activation energy, and how substrate, temperature and inhibitors change the reaction…
SONGRound Again
How a cell grows, copies its chromosomes, divides its nucleus and cytoplasm, and decides when to go…
SONGSalt in the Water
A song about saltwater intrusion, osmosis, and what rising salinity does to farm crops.
SONGSmooth Flow
A song about lipids, and how double bonds in fatty acids control whether a fat stays fluid.
SONGSPONCH
A song about the six elements that make up living things and where each one shows up.
SONGWalls Up
A song about cell walls across bacteria, archaea, fungi, and plants, and the osmosis they resist.
SONGWater in the Summertime
A summer-memory song that doubles as a walkthrough of water polarity, hydrogen bonding, and why biology…
SONGYou Are Like Carbohydrates
A song about carbohydrate structure, from single sugars to branched polysaccharides.