This release contains only the music track from Base by Base Episode 331.

Song title: Stuck at the Q-Line
Original Base by Base episode: 331: Bi-allelic NDUFA5 variants and complex I mitochondriopathy

Article metadata:
Article title: Bi-allelic variants in NDUFA5 cause a mitochondriopathy with complex I deficiency
Journal: The American Journal of Human Genetics
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2026.03.003
Reference: Tan et al., 2026, The American Journal of Human Genetics 113, 1–14, May 7, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2026.03.003

Lyrics:
Verse 1
In the quiet hum behind my skin,
A tired spark can’t pull me in.
Pages of code and midnight light,
Chasing why the current won’t run right.

Pre-Chorus
Two small edits in a fragile chain,
Cut the message down to almost nothing again.
A skipped-out line, a silence where it should speak,
And the engine learns what it can’t keep.

Chorus
Stuck at the Q-line, halfway built,
Power fading, no one’s at fault, no one’s guilt.
But we read the echoes, we follow the proof,
And we turn the dark into something true.

Verse 2
On cold blue gels the pieces show,
A missing step in the undertow.
Proteins drop like lights in a grid,
And the whole first gate won’t open the way it did.

Bridge
From blood to muscle, the signs can shift,
So we map every layer, we don’t dismiss.
In a small fast heartbeat under glass,
A model swims where the questions pass.
Name the break, and you can start to mend—
A stalled beginning isn’t the end.

Final Chorus
Stuck at the Q-line, we won’t look away,
We’ll trace the assembly till it finds its way.
From transcript to protein, from doubt to view,
We turn the dark into something true.