This release contains only the music track from Base by Base Episode 299.
Song title: Folded Signals
Original Base by Base episode: 299: UFM1 loss and R81C mutation disrupt neuronal translation, ER stress, and synaptogenesis
Original episode link: https://basebybase.com/episodes/ufm1-r81c-neuronal-translation
Article metadata:
Article title: Encephalopathy-linked UFM1 variants impede neuronal protein translation, development, and function
Journal: EMBO Molecular Medicine, doi:10.1038/s44321-026-00389-6
DOI: 10.1038/s44321-026-00389-6
Reference: Perdigão C, Torres J, Magnussen HM, Koch J, Rudashevskaya E, Moschref F, Fiosins M, Benseler F, Wenger S, Nilsson T, Beuermann S, Bonn S, Rizzoli SO, Kulathu Y, Jahn O, Cooper BH, Ambrozkiewicz MC, Rhee JS, Brose N & Tirard M (2026) Encephalopathy-linked UFM1 variants impede neuronal protein translation, development, and function. EMBO Molecular Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44321-026-00389-6
Lyrics:
Verse 1
Long nights under fluorescent hum, cells keep time in quiet rows
Something small goes missing where the folding river flows
The makers slow their hands, the message thins and fades
Branches shrink, the city of the neuron becomes a softer maze
Pre-Chorus
ER whispers folded warnings, a kinase lifts its head
Translation stalls like halted trains on tracks of thread
Tension coils inside the cell, a hush before the tread
Chorus
But we found a pulse to steady the line, a way to prime the light
A molecule that eases heavy rooms and brings the makers back to life
Where once the signals dimmed and synapses fell apart
Now hands rebuild the bridge between a heart and its own spark
Verse 2
Without the small UFM1 guide, the outposts lost their reach
Fewer sparks across the branches, quieter the words they teach
A hypomorphic shadow makes the burden worse when challenged near
Yet when the strain is softened, the fragile circuits reappear
Bridge
Let the piano count the breaths, let the circuits wake and try
A steady rise, a patient swell — the cell learns how to fly
From folded stress to rising tides, the quiet learns to sigh
Final Chorus
Now we give the makers back their rhythm, light through folded walls
Synapses multiply like stars that answer morning calls
Cautious hope becomes a chorus, urgent, warm and bright
We mended the unfinished song and sent it home into the night