NASA GeneLab

GeneLab is an interactive, open-access resource where scientists can upload, download, store, search, share, transfer, and analyze omics data from spaceflight and corresponding analogue experiments. Users can explore GeneLab datasets in the Data Repository, analyze data using the Analysis Platform, and create collaborative projects using the Collaborative Workspace. GeneLab promises to facilitate and improve information sharing, foster innovation, and increase the pace of scientific discovery from extremely rare and valuable space biology experiments. Discoveries made using GeneLab have begun and will continue to deepen our understanding of biology, advance the field of genomics, and help to discover cures for diseases, create better diagnostic tools, and ultimately allow astronauts to better withstand the rigors of long-duration spaceflight.

GeneLab helps scientists understand how the fundamental building blocks of life itself – DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites – change from exposure to microgravity, radiation, and other aspects of the space environment. GeneLab does so by providing fully coordinated epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data alongside essential metadata describing each spaceflight and space-relevant experiment. By carefully curating and implementing best practices for data standards, users can combine individual GeneLab datasets to gain new, comprehensive insights about the effects of spaceflight on biology. In this way, GeneLab extends the scientific knowledge gained from each biological experiment conducted in space, allowing scientists from around the world to make novel discoveries and develop new hypotheses from these priceless data.