You’re Cysteine

(To the tune of “You’re Sixteen”) / Recording by Rebecca McDade

You’re in every protein
That I’ve ever seen
There’s no need to debate
You’re cysteine, a building block, and you’re great

You give the hair waves
It’s something we crave
Makes the food on my plate
You’re cysteine, a building block, and you’re great

Bridge
That sulfhydryl in your chain
Can oxidize, but I don’t complain
It gives support to all peptides
So proteins need to have disulfides

You’re an acid it seems
And have an amine
Please don’t ever mutate
You’re cysteine, a building block, and you’re great

Bridge
A U-G-U or U-G-C
In secret code at the cell’s decree
You’re in my skin and in my bone
And even in my glutathione

You’re in every protein
That I’ve ever seen
There’s no need to debate
You’re cysteine, a building block, and you’re great