Show Notes
This release contains only the music track from Base by Base Episode 44.
Song title: Six Bases Back
Original Base by Base episode: 44: Polε Proofreading Revealed
Article metadata:
Article title: The proofreading mechanism of the human leading-strand DNA polymerase ε holoenzyme
Journal: PNAS
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2507232122
Reference: Wang F., He Q., O'Donnell M.E., Li H. The proofreading mechanism of the human leading-strand DNA polymerase ε holoenzyme. PNAS. 2025;122:e2507232122. doi:10.1073/pnas.2507232122
Lyrics:
Verse 1
A bright screen hums in the midnight lab,
A perfect copy’s what we’re chasing to have.
One wrong letter slips in, small and sly,
But the ring stays locked as the strand goes by.
Pre-Chorus
No panic, no break, just a steady hold,
A careful hand in a machine of gold.
Back it up, unwind the track—
Find the flaw and take it back.
Chorus
Six bases back, let the truth unspool,
Shift out of register, break the old rule.
Only that last wrong edge gets into the light,
Clip it clean, make the future right.
Six bases back—then we roll on through,
Proof in the motion, fidelity new.
Verse 2
Not every mismatch can reach that door,
When the clamp is set on the helix core.
So the DNA scrunches, the template bends,
Three tight steps till the error ends.
Bridge
Mismatch-locking—hold your breath, don’t move,
Pol-backtracking—find the hidden groove.
Mismatch-editing—now the pathway’s clear,
A quiet correction you can almost hear.
Final Chorus
Six bases back, let the truth unspool,
Shift out of register, break the old rule.
Only that last wrong edge gets into the light,
Clip it clean, make the future right.
Six bases back—still the clamp won’t leave,
We fix the line in the space between.
