WATCH: GeneLab ISSR&D Talk and Demo
On October 17, 2020, the NASA GeneLab project presented at the virtual ISSR&D Conference, 2020 Online Series. Click here to watch, "Maximizing Spaceflight Biological Data with Omics Analytics: The NASA GeneLab Database." Speakers included: Sylvain Costes, GeneLab Project Manager, NASA; and Samrawit Gebre, GeneLab Deputy Project Manager, NASA
Summary: NASA’s GeneLab includes an open-access repository of more than 250 omics datasets generated by biological experiments relevant to spaceflight, including research in simulated cosmic radiation and microgravity environments. In order to maximize the intelligibility of these data, particularly for users with a limited bioinformatics background, GeneLab has become a knowledge base platform converting raw genetic and proteomic signatures found in flight samples into biological and physiological meanings. A large community of more than 100 scientists has rallied behind GeneLab and organized into four Analysis Working Groups (AWGs: Animal, Plant, Microbe, and Multi-Omics). Together, the AWGs have gained scientific recognition worldwide by establishing a consortium in charge of adopting new complex standards for data analysis workflows and omics sample processing in a rapidly evolving field. This session will demonstrate the usage of the repository with smart search capability, an online controlled-access tool shed “Galaxy” to process user data with vetted standard workflows, a workspace for data sharing, and a data submission portal with ontology control for better metadata curation. The GeneLab visualization portal will also be demonstrated, showing how anyone without formal training in bioinformatics can now browse the space biology omics data to discover new biology and potential solutions to improve life in space.
