Airpocalypse

Illustration by Florence Cartozo

My medical thriller Airpocalypse will soon be out (French version first). Link to the lyrics for 8 songs I wrote (English) for this fiction: http://ethictransplantation.blogspot.fr/2016/12/crush-test.html

Ninth song: Airpocalypse 

Whenever I have

To wear a breathing mask

In Beijing,

I try to remember this.

Sulfate is a big contributor 

To the fog in Beijing, 

Sulfuric acid particles are formed

From sulfur dioxide, 

Released by coal burning 

For residential use and power plants.

Sulfur dioxide is turned

Into sulfuric acid. 

This deadly process 

Is facilitated by nitrogen dioxide, 

Another co-product of coal burning, 

And occurs initially on natural fog. 

Sulfur dioxide turning into sulfate 

Produces acidic particles. 

The sulfate formation process 

Is only possible 

With ammonia to neutralize the particles.

Natural fog contains larger particles 

Of several tens of micrometers in size, 

(In Beijing the haze starts 

From much smaller nanoparticles)

And the acid formed is sufficiently diluted. 

Evaporation of those fog particles 

Then leave smaller acidic haze particles 

That cover the city.

In China, sulfur dioxide

Is mainly emitted by power plants, 

Nitrogen dioxide is from power plants 

And automobiles, 

And ammonia comes 

From fertilizer use and automobiles.

The right chemical processes 

Have to interplay for the deadly haze 

To occur in China. 

Chinese haze is basically neutral

But it is not neutral to my health.

So whenever I have

To wear a breathing mask

In Beijing,

I try to remember this.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Arpocalypse

Persistent poor air quality 

Often requires people 

To wear breathing masks 

During much of the day.

How about solutions?

Reduction in emissions 

For nitrogen oxides and ammonia 

Is likely effective in disrupting 

This sulfate formation process.

How about solutions?

My health was left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

Reduction in emissions 

For nitrogen oxides and ammonia 

Is likely effective in disrupting 

This sulfate formation process.

So here’s my new 

Super duper

Scientific song

To pitch the UN

With brilliant ideas

To solve OMG

The air pollution

The air…

-pocalypse.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

And please don’t forget

Small particles between 2.5 and 10 microns

When measuring air quality,

Are just as deadly

As particles above 10 microns.

I know it’s a dream,

But just imagine.

Want a microorganism that eats 

Carbon dioxide 

And makes fuel? 

Someday you might be able

To point and click 

And get one delivered.

Engineering biofuels 

With the help of bacteria

In the lab, 

This will replace oil and coal. 

Tata India and Jack Ma China

Combining biofuels and solar energy

For the first zero carbon-emission plane flight.

I know it’s a dream,

But just imagine.

Here’s my new 

Super duper

Scientific song

To pitch the UN

With brilliant ideas

To solve OMG

The air pollution

The air…

-pocalypse.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

Biofuels using 

Synthetic biology. 

Optimizing the microbes for high-yield, 

Efficient production through 

Genome engineering, 

Matching the microbe 

With appropriate feedstock molecules 

Or micronutrients, 

And then fine-tuning the entire production process

For generating clean fuels 

That are drop-in ready for use 

In the gas tank at costs 

That are competitive with those 

Of natural petroleum products.

And now we did not think 

We were able to produce 

A flammable liquid 

In such a simple way, 

From electricity. 

Ethanol in place of oil. 

In an engine, ethanol is burned. 

This gives carbon dioxide and energy. 

In the factory, the carbon dioxide 

Is captured again 

In order to re-cycle. 

This way of storing electricity

In liquid form 

Is very interesting. 

So here’s my new 

Super duper

Scientific song

To pitch the UN

With brilliant ideas

To solve OMG

The air pollution

The air…

-pocalypse.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

And now we did not think 

We were able to produce 

A flammable liquid 

In such a simple way, 

From electricity. 

Ethanol in place of oil. 

Oil is the result 

Of photosynthesis 

Millions of years ago.

Trees have grown, 

Captured carbon dioxide 

Through photosynthesis. 

Plants retain carbon and release oxygen. 

Photosynthesis

Means that plants keep the sun, 

Which is the energy that breaks CO2 

Or carbon dioxide

Into carbon on one side 

And oxygen on the other. 

CO2 is a very strong molecule, 

C and O2 are bonded very strongly. 

It takes a lot of energy 

To break this molecule. 

Burning carbon makes it possible

to associate again 

C and O2, 

Carbon and oxygen, 

And releases energy, 

That was previously 

stored in C and O2. 

Energy is not lost 

And is not created. 

It can only be stored or free.

When separating C and O2, 

Energy must be provided 

To separate them. 

When we associate them again, 

This energy is released. 

Think about magnets. 

They are glued to one another 

And it takes energy to separate them. 

Once they are separated, 

It is as if they were storing 

A lot of energy. 

If we bring them closer, 

They will jump over 

Each other and stick together. 

Energy is not lost 

And is not created. 

It can only be stored or free.

The same applies to carbon and oxygen. 

If we have succeeded 

In separating them and then 

Bringing them together, 

There is energy 

That will be released. 

The problem with oil 

Is that photosynthesis 

Took place millions of years ago, 

So it removed a lot of carbon dioxide 

From the atmosphere, 

Which is rich in oxygen. 

Other forms of life 

Have therefore appeared, 

And require oxygen. 

When burning oil, 

Carbon dioxide and energy 

Are produced. 

The released carbon dioxide

Is not consumed, 

Because it is released 

Massively. 

The problem? 

we can see it right away. 

We do not make oxygen. 

And we have a big excess of CO2. 

That's what happens when the trees were burned 

Millions of years ago: 

We do not make enough oxygen 

And we have a large excess of CO2.

So here’s my new 

super duper

scientific song

To pitch the UN

With brilliant ideas

To solve OMG

The air pollution

The air…

-pocalypse.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

The effect of this carbon dioxide

is to isolate the atmosphere 

and create a greenhouse effect. 

And to acidify the oceans. 

Instead of burning oil 

That can not be duplicated,

We can burn ethanol, 

Which we can reproduce. 

As a result, oxygen is re-circulated 

In the air and CO2 is captured 

Again. 

Bye bye, big excess of CO2. 

The storage of energy 

Called photosynthesis

Can be done with ethanol. 

Then we do not produce carbon and oxygen, 

But ethanol. This can return 

To making carbon 

And oxygen, C + O2. 

C is coal, carbon, wood. 

The pollution in Beijing

Is linked to chemical reactions 

With the atmosphere 

Under certain conditions, 

When combustion of coal happens.

The reaction between carbon and oxygen 

Releases plenty of polluting compounds.

A diesel engine produces solid 

(and non-liquid) 

Microparticles. 

Solid Microparticles 

Have far more health effects 

Than the gases themselves. 

This micro-dust, 

When it enters the lungs, 

Remains there. 

This is also the case for asbestos, 

Which is also a micro-dust. 

In the case of asbestos and diesel, 

It is the accumulation 

That is bad for your health. 

Alcohol is even more refined than petroleum, 

So there are even less odors and soot. 

In the case of diesel, combustion particles 

Produce even more soot than in the case of oil.

So here’s my new 

Super duper

Scientific song

To pitch the UN

With brilliant ideas

To solve OMG

The air pollution

The air…

-pocalypse.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

So just imagine

Microbial factories for everyday products

Biosensors for food pathogens

Marijuana without the plant

Fixing your genes to cure diseases

The end of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers

And please remember:

Y cancer =f(X pollution lifestyle)

And even fancier:

Know the super-power

Of urine.

From the urine, 

We can reconstruct 

Stem cells of neurons 

(Folks, this means the death of brain death!)

And other undifferentiated stem cells.

The urine also serves 

For the production 

Of hydrogen 

For the cars of tomorrow.

That was my new 

Super duper

Scientific song

To pitch the UN

With brilliant ideas

To solve OMG

The air pollution

The air…

-pocalypse.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

I know it’s a dream,

But just imagine.

Want a microorganism that eats 

Carbon dioxide 

And makes fuel? 

Someday you might be able

To point and click 

And get one delivered.

My health is left

Hanging in the air

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse.

Tenth song: Forget Yesterday Remember Tomorrow

Beijing’s sick beating heart

Witnessing pollution

And organ trafficking.

Beijing’s vibrant scientific scene,

Engineering, editing, making and hacking,

Trying to forget yesterday, 

Remember Tomorrow.

Engineering biofuels 

With the help of bacteria

In the lab. Making new drugs 

With the help of gene

Editing tools.

Forget Yesterday 

Remember Tomorrow.

Beijing’s recovering beating heart,

But…

Science is hype is money

I am a buzz word trader

The biggest Ponzi scheme ever

Nothing is forever

Going global, spinning faster

Burnout’s the new pot o’honey

People have started dating their innernet:

«  - Dear pitch-perfect A.I., will you be my Scarlett? »

Science happens by accident

A fungus remote-controlling the insect brain 

leads to . . . cyclosporine, 

The drug allowing physicians to transplant organs.

If the patient’s got an accident,

Doctors will look for the necrosis in his brain

Then another patient gets a new heart.

Medicine also happens by accident.

Is this incremental? Is this exponential?

Wait. I’ll ask the blockchain.

Women’s breasts and organs

Are political objects

In the database of Business Abject.

Digital locks and Rights Management

Are the new stethoscope of madicament,

I mean medicament.

I work in life science

I’m a buzz word trader

Accident is the new blockchain,

Making big data’s head spin.

Human on-a-chip

Hope-hip

I work in life science

I’m a buzz word trader

Accident is the new blockchain

Making big data’s head spin.

I am a buzz word trader

I deal emotions

One keynote at a time

Human on a chip

Hope-hip

Beijing’s anonymous heartbeat,

Hacking into the Operating System

Of Humanity

Writing snippets of code

Encoding more equity

Into the language of evolution

Yeah, revolution, evolution, devolution, religion

You decide.

They call me Anonymous

But that’s just what I write

When asked for my identity

While downloading a file

From some FTP server.

I’m a geek I’m a hacker

And maybe some day

Some anonymous organ donor.

I guess this is the reason

Why they call me Anonymous.

Free and anonymous

I am,

Just like organ donation.

We don’t need more anonymous

Prisoners executed, 

Slaughtered

For their hearts kidneys lungs

Sold for medical transplants.

Bloody Harvest 

Bloody Harvest 

Beijing’s beating heart 

Is bleeding.

We need more gene editing science.

The science of vital organ replacement 

Is paved with accidents and crisis.

Now we need to edit that crisis out

And make amendments thanks to a cool

Crisis editing tool,

Sorry I meant,

Gene editing tool.

Yeah, revolution, evolution, devolution, religion

You decide.

Forget yesterday,

Remember tomorrow.

Hey, rest of the world,
Listen to what China has to say.

Just like the low-cost flight company:

« If you are late, we won’t wait ».

Forget yesterday,

Remember tomorrow.

Beijing’s beating heart,

Telling me what Anonymous means.

It means anyone.

ANYONE 

Can go from concept to execution 

Of coded proteins 

Virtually overnight, 

Through cloudlabs, 

Robot lab assistants, 

And rapid prototyping software. 

Cost is dropping fast. 

Direct-build-and-deploy your personal

– Medicine Farm
– Nanofactory
– Liquid biocomputer

Forget yesterday,

Remember tomorrow.

How about a nice, graphical, 

Web-accessible SaaS 

For compiling genomes, 

With direct printing of DNA 

Via your cloud lab of choice?

'Shapeways for genes' has arrived.

Have fun with the 'mutate random amino acid' function!

Here is gene therapy’s Secret Recipe

(yes I love their raspberry cheesecake too):

Take an adeno-associated virus 

Devoid of toxicity

(typically AAV9) 

In 20% of cases, when you have a sore throat 

It is this type of virus, therefore no sorcery

And introduce corrective action 

Using Crispr / Cas9 

Such that if the virus is swallowed / injected 

It will 'infect' cells 

With the consequence 

That if there is a DNA sequence 

AATCGCGGCGAGCGAG 

(I just made up that one) 

It will be replaced with AATCGCAACGAGCGAG 

Where the central GG

Is replaced by AA,

And trust me 

This should be

No ‘mutate random amino acid' function.

Beijing’s lungs are struggling to breathe

Airpocalypse

Airpocalypse

Lung cancer represents

Two deaths every minute

Worldwide.

So please Airpocalypse xiānsheng,

Don’t tell me bioengineering

Cannot help.

Beijing’s ailing lungs on-chips,

Engineering biofuels 

With the help of bacteria

In the lab.

Want a microorganism that eats 

Carbon dioxide 

And makes fuel? 

Someday you might be able

To point and click 

And get one delivered.

Forget yesterday,

Remember tomorrow.

I work in life science

I’m a maker

Evidence is the new blockchain,

Big data crunching

Snippets of Computer Code

For Human Organs-on-Chips,

Clinical trials going digital 

And exponential.

Big data means

Prices are dropping.

Forget yesterday,

Remember tomorrow

This is Beijing’s beating heart

Sole credo

I can hear it now.

Forget yesterday,

Remember tomorrow

This is Beijing’s beating heart

Sole credo

I can hear it now.

Lyrics of all songs by Catherine Coste, for medical thriller "Airpocalypse". Copyrighted material.

#GenomicEntertainment