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At least 19 records

Evaluation of the Biolog MicroStation system for yeast identification

One hundred and fifty-nine isolates representing 16 genera and 53 species of yeasts were processed with the Biolog MicroStation System for yeast identification. Thirteen genera and 38 species were included in the Biolog database. For these 129 isolates, correct identifications to the species level were 13.2, 39.5 and 48.8% after 24, 48 and 72 hours incubation at 30 degrees C, respectively. Three genera and 15 species which were not included in the Biolog database were also tested. Of the 30 isolates studied, 16.7, 53.3 and 56.7% of the isolates were given incorrect names from the system's database after 24,48 and 72 h incubation at 30 degrees C, respectively. The remaining isolates of this group were not identified.

NASA Program Environmental Health

Evaluation of Automated Yeast Identification System

One hundred and nine teleomorphic and anamorphic yeast isolates representing approximately 30 taxa were used to evaluate the accuracy of the Biolog yeast identification system. Isolates derived from nomenclatural types, environmental, and clinica isolates of known identity were tested in the Biolog system. Of the isolates tested, 81 were in the Biolog database. The system correctly identified 40, incorrectly identified 29, and was unable to identify 12. Of the 28 isolates not in the database, 18 were given names, whereas 10 were not. The Biolog yeast identification system is inadequate for the identification of yeasts originating from the environment during space program activities.

McGinnis, M. R.

Dose, LET, time and strain dependence of radiation-induced 53BP1 foci in 15 mouse strains ex vivo and associations to in vivo radiation susceptibility

We present a comparative analysis on the repair of radiation-induced DNA damage ex vivo in 15 strains of mice, including 5 inbred reference strains and 10 collaborative-cross strains, of both sexes. Non-immortalized primary skin fibroblasts derived from 76 mice were subjected to both low- and high-LET radiation (0.1, 1 and 4 Gy of X rays; 1.1 and 3 particles/100μm2 of 350 MeV/n 40Ar and 600 MeV/n 56Fe). Automated image quantification of 53BP1 radiation-induced foci (RIF) during the first 4-48 h post-irradiation was performed as a function of dose and LET. Similarly to what we had previously reported for immortalized human cell lines [1], we observed a saturation of RIF number with dose at 4h post-irradiation, with more RIF/Gy for lower LET (X rays and 40Ar) compared to 56Fe. However at later time points (24h and above), the trend was inverted with more RIF/Gy for higher LET. Our data suggest that multiple DSBs cluster into RIF: as the linear density of DSBs increases with LET, so does the probability of having more DSBs per RIF, which makes it more difficult for cells to fully resolve high-LET-induced RIF, explaining the hypersensitivity to high-LET radiation despite a low number of RIF. Taking into account the amount of clustering at a given dose and LET, but also the kinetics of DNA damage repair, we introduced a novel mathematical formalism to evaluate the number of remaining RIF over time. We showed that the newly introduced kinetic metrics can be used as surrogate biomarkers for in vivo radiation toxicity, with potential applications in radiotherapy and human space exploration. In particular, we observed an association between the repairable fraction of RIF measured in vitro and survival levels of immune cells collected from irradiated mice. Moreover, the speed of DNA damage repair correlated with spontaneous cancer incidence data collected from the Mouse Tumor Biology database, suggesting a relationship between the efficiency of DSB repair after irradiation and cancer risk. In addition to the efficacy of repair and persistent RIF levels, even the amount of spontaneous foci without irradiation was shown to be strain dependent, indicating that these phenotypes are at least partially driven by genetics, and supporting their potential as indicators of individual radiation sensitivity. [1] Neumaier, T., et al., PNAS, 2012 (8) 109:443

Radiation, DNA damage, repair kinetics

NASA biological and physical sciences databases: who’s the FAIRest of them all?

Conceptual models are a key part of the foundation of scientific study. Scientific data discovery and retrieval are often inaccurate and incomplete because these models are not sufficiently well-incorporated into data retrieval systems. Systems often don’t provide the necessary tools to those producing scientific data to fully and unambiguously annotate them and the result is consumers of the data cannot find them efficiently. The capability of data archives to provide these tools to link data to underlying conceptual models is one of dimensions of the recently developed “FAIR” principles (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/ ), and is key to many automated processes being able to operate on these data, particularly analytics involving artificial intelligence. We used an open-source web service to measure the FAIR compliance of the three data archives operated by NASA for the biological and physical sciences: the Life Sciences Data Archive, the Physical Sciences Informatics database, and GeneLab. The service ingests references to data sets in these archives, and then executes domain-non-specific examinations of these data and metadata that test compliance to the FAIR principles. Of the 22 metrics tested, GeneLab passed 11 (50%), and PSI and LSDA each passed 7 (32%). These data were gathered using only one representative data set from each archive and we anticipate variability in results as we continue to apply these metrics to other data. A preliminary study of the failure traces for each metric suggests there is a wide range of effort and complexity in the enhancements required for each system to elevate FAIR compliance, and this is the subject of continued investigation. This information has been and will likely continue to be important information in planning these enhancements, with the goal of increased readiness of the data for automated processes.

database

VIZARD: analysis of Affymetrix Arabidopsis GeneChip data

SUMMARY: The Affymetrix GeneChip Arabidopsis genome array has proved to be a very powerful tool for the analysis of gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana, the most commonly studied plant model organism. VIZARD is a Java program created at the University of California, Berkeley, to facilitate analysis of Arabidopsis GeneChip data. It includes several integrated tools for filtering, sorting, clustering and visualization of gene expression data as well as tools for the discovery of regulatory motifs in upstream sequences. VIZARD also includes annotation and upstream sequence databases for the majority of genes represented on the Affymetrix Arabidopsis GeneChip array. AVAILABILITY: VIZARD is available free of charge for educational, research, and not-for-profit purposes, and can be downloaded at http://www.anm.f2s.com/research/vizard/ CONTACT: moseyko@uclink4.berkeley.edu.

Non-NASA Center

Association of orogenic activity with the Ordovician radiation of marine life

The Ordovician radiation of marine life was among the most substantial pulses of diversification in Earth history and coincided in time with a major increase in the global level of orogenic activity. To investigate a possible causal link between these two patterns, the geographic distributions of 6576 individual appearances of Ordovician vician genera around the world were evaluated with respect to their proximity to probable centers of orogeny (foreland basins). Results indicate that these genera, which belonged to an array of higher taxa that diversified in the Middle and Late Ordovician (trilobites, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, monoplacophorans), were far more diverse in, and adjacent to, foreland basins than they were in areas farther removed from orogenic activity (carbonate platforms). This suggests an association of orogeny with diversification at that time.

NASA Discipline Exobiology

Open Science for Life in Space: Bioimaging, Data Sharing, and Tools for Knowledge Discovery

Precious space-flown biological experiments have both multi-omic and phenotypic data which NASA strives to make maximally open access for reuse. Currently a number of these space-relevant bioimaging datasets are being reused for AI/ML approaches. NASA Ames Life Science Data Archive and NASA GeneLab are working to make all current and future bioimaging data even more accessible and reusable. Standards for collection and curation are being implemented to enable scientists worldwide access to these data for further discovery and use.

data science

RadLab: A Comprehensive Database and Graphical and Programming Interfaces for Biologically Relevant Space Radiation Data

RadLab, a new component of the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), is a platform built upon a database of radiation data relevant to space biology. RadLab provides visual and programmatic interfaces for interrogation of its database, as well as a submission process for inclusion of data from investigators. The RadLab application programming interface (API) implements a request syntax enabling users to retrieve data filtered by various combinations of parameters (detector type, location, direction, timespan, etc), which are delivered in machine-readable text formats, ready to be ingested by downstream analysis pipelines; while the graphical user interface (GUI) provides easy means to iteratively modify query parameters and incorporates a number of standard analyses and visualizations (time series plots, geospatial visualizations, detector comparison). Investigators from many countries, including US, Russia, Japan, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and Italy, have committed to provide data from their instruments located on the ISS; RadLab will also include data from other spacecraft in LEO (e.g., the Space Shuttle, the Mir space station), BLEO (e. g. BioSentinel, Mars Orbiter, among others), and on other celestial bodies (e. g. Chang’e 4, Curiosity). The first release of RadLab has been made available to the public. Once fully operational, RadLab will provide a comprehensive and ever-growing compendium of space radiation data, facilitating straightforward access to multiple types of readings and enabling space biology researchers to perform intercomparisons of detectors and to determine the radiation environment of research missions, both via programmatic retrieval of these data and via the graphical analysis toolkit; as well as a user-friendly submission portal for ingesting data from space agencies and research institutions. Radiation scientists will be able to use RadLab to gain a deeper understanding of the space radiation environment for future human space exploration. The RadLab Working Group has been formed to foster close collaborations among data contributors and users, to identify data sources, to put in place standards for data normalization, to guide the development of features of the analysis toolkit, to establish the use of RadLab in space radiation biology research, and eventually to provide a forum for discussing relevant research issues that can take advantage of RadLab's capabilities.

radiation

RadLab: A Comprehensive Database and Graphical and Programming Interfaces for Biologically Relevant Space Radiation Data

RadLab, a new component of the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), comprises a database of radiation measurements relevant to space biology, and visual and programmatic interfaces for interrogation and retrieval of these data. The attributes of data available through RadLab include spacecraft, types of radiation sensing instruments, locations within the spacecraft (e.g. modules of the ISS), associated celestial bodies, trajectories, and spacecraft coordinates. The application programming interface (API) implements a request syntax for retrieval of timestamped data filtered by various combinations of such attributes; the graphical user interface (GUI) extends this functionality with visualizations, such as spacecraft schematics, time series plots, geospatial visualizations, and provides easy means to iteratively refine search parameters, inspect the data on the fly, and download target subsets. The release of RadLab currently available to the public contains datasets provided by US and international collaborators and focuses on data recorded on the ISS. Investigators from multiple countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Russia and the Czech Republic, have committed to provide data from their instruments in and beyond low Earth orbit; RadLab will also soon expand to include past (e.g. Shuttle and Mir) and future (e.g. Artemis) data. RadLab will provide a comprehensive, dynamic compendium of space radiation data, enabling the scientific community to perform analyses of data from multiple detectors and to determine the radiation environment of research missions and experiments. The RadLab Working Group has been formed to foster collaborations among data contributors and users, to identify data sources, to put in place standards for data harmonization, and to guide the development of the platform, with the goal to establish the use of RadLab in space radiation research and to advance our understanding of the space radiation environment in human habitats.

database

RadLab: A Comprehensive Database and Graphical and Programming Interfaces for Biologically Relevant Space Radiation Data

RadLab, a new component of the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), comprises a database of radiation measurements relevant to space biology, and visual and programmatic interfaces for interrogation and retrieval of these data. The attributes of data available through RadLab include spacecraft, types of radiation sensing instruments, locations within the spacecraft (e.g. modules of the ISS), associated celestial bodies, trajectories, and spacecraft coordinates. The application programming interface (API) implements a request syntax for retrieval of timestamped data filtered by various combinations of such attributes; the graphical user interface (GUI) extends this functionality with visualizations, such as spacecraft schematics, time series plots, geospatial visualizations, and provides easy means to iteratively refine search parameters, inspect the data on the fly, and download target subsets of these data. The release of RadLab currently available to the public contains datasets provided by US and international collaborators and focuses on data recorded on the ISS. Investigators from multiple countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Russia and the Czech Republic, have committed to provide data from their instruments in and beyond low Earth orbit; RadLab will also soon expand to include past (e.g. Shuttle and Mir) and future (e.g. Artemis) data. RadLab will provide a comprehensive, dynamic compendium of space radiation data, enabling the scientific community to perform analyses of data from multiple detectors and to determine the radiation environment of research missions and experiments, both via programmatic retrieval of these data and through the graphical analysis toolkit. The RadLab Working Group has been formed to foster collaborations among data contributors and users, to identify data sources, to put in place standards for data harmonization, and to guide the development of the platform, with the goal to establish the use of RadLab in space radiation research and to advance our understanding of the space radiation environment in human habitats.

radiation

Open Science for Life in Space: Data Sharing and Tools for Knowledge Discovery

The fast-growing array of space biological data, which in the past was simply archived after minimal analysis, holds great potential if it can be reorganized and formatted for Open Science. Organizing the data for such analysis is a challenge because of its diverse nature (molecular, cellular, tissue, whole organism, behavior; tabular, imagery). Open Science is the concept that the more people have access to scientifically curated data, the more knowledge will be gained. This led NASA to start the development of GeneLab in 2015. GeneLab houses spaceflight and space-analog multi-omics datasets from plant, rodent, small animal, and microbial experiments. The success and knowledge gained from GeneLab led to a new alliance of NASA “Open Science Data Repositories” (OSDR), which include the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) and the NASA Biological Institutional Scientific Collection (NBISC). Both are adopting the GeneLab data system, so data are more findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). OSDR systems provide users the ability to upload, download, search, share, analyze, and visualize. Open Science also needs strong confidence in the data, which is gained through building science communities. With ~400 current members, GeneLab and ALSDA formed Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) to provide feedback on processing pipelines, metadata curation standards (for ‘omics and phenotypic-physiological-behavioral assays), and to collaborate in effectively reusing data. The AWG also led to the development of the Radiation Biology Ontology (RBO), ensuring radiation metadata are efficiently captured, connected, and interoperable. Feedback from the AWG provided design input toward the new single point-of-entry data submission portal for all investigators to submit, curate, and share their research data. Space biological data is now maximally open access, collected-curated with rich metadata, and formatted for interoperability to enable systems biology, meta-analysis, knowledge graphs, machine learning, modeling, and other reuse approaches. With potential for further federation of OSDR for data mining with traditional biological and medical databases (NIH, NCI, EBI, etc.), a new era for space biology has begun to support the knowledge discovery necessary for Lunar and Martian missions.

Ryan T Scott

Maximizing Spaceflight Biological Data with Omics Analytics: The NASA GeneLab Database

NASA’s GeneLab includes an open-access repository of some 250+ omics datasets generated by biological experiments relevant to spaceflight including simulated cosmic radiation and microgravity. In order to maximize the intelligibility of these data, particularly for users with limited bioinformatics background, GeneLab has become a knowledgebase 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. We will demonstrate the usage of the repository with smart search capability, an online controlled-access toolshed "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.

Sylvain Vincent Costes

Decades of Data: Extracting Trends from Microgravity Crystallization History

The reduced acceleration environment of an orbiting spacecraft has been posited as an ideal environment for biological crystal growth since buoyancy driven convection and sedimentation are greatly reduced. Since the first sounding rocket flight in 1981 many crystallization experiments have flown with some showing improvement and others not. To further explore macromolecule crystal improvement in microgravity we have accumulated data from published reports and reports submitted by individual investigators to NASA, forming a database called BIOSEArCH (Biological Space Experiment Archive of Crystallization History). To date it contains information from 63 missions including, the Space Shuttle program, unmanned satellites, the Russian Space Station MIR and sounding rocket experiments, containing reports for more than 736 macromolecule experiments. While it is not at this point in time a comprehensive record of all flight crystallization experimental results, there is however sufficient information for emerging trends to be identified. These trends will be highlighted.

Judge, Russell A.

The growing world of expansins

Expansins are cell wall proteins that induce pH-dependent wall extension and stress relaxation in a characteristic and unique manner. Two families of expansins are known, named alpha- and beta-expansins, and they comprise large multigene families whose members show diverse organ-, tissue- and cell-specific expression patterns. Other genes that bear distant sequence similarity to expansins are also represented in the sequence databases, but their biological and biochemical functions have not yet been uncovered. Expansin appears to weaken glucan-glucan binding, but its detailed mechanism of action is not well established. The biological roles of expansins are diverse, but can be related to the action of expansins to loosen cell walls, for example during cell enlargement, fruit softening, pollen tube and root hair growth, and abscission. Expansin-like proteins have also been identified in bacteria and fungi, where they may aid microbial invasion of the plant body.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology

Genelab: Scientific Partnerships and an Open-Access Database to Maximize Usage of Omics Data from Space Biology Experiments

NASA's mission includes expanding our understanding of biological systems to improve life on Earth and to enable long-duration human exploration of space. The GeneLab Data System (GLDS) is NASA's premier open-access omics data platform for biological experiments. GLDS houses standards-compliant, high-throughput sequencing and other omics data from spaceflight-relevant experiments. The GeneLab project at NASA-Ames Research Center is developing the database, and also partnering with spaceflight projects through sharing or augmentation of experiment samples to expand omics analyses on precious spaceflight samples. The partnerships ensure that the maximum amount of data is garnered from spaceflight experiments and made publically available as rapidly as possible via the GLDS. GLDS Version 1.0, went online in April 2015. Software updates and new data releases occur at least quarterly. As of October 2016, the GLDS contains 80 datasets and has search and download capabilities. Version 2.0 is slated for release in September of 2017 and will have expanded, integrated search capabilities leveraging other public omics databases (NCBI GEO, PRIDE, MG-RAST). Future versions in this multi-phase project will provide a collaborative platform for omics data analysis. Data from experiments that explore the biological effects of the spaceflight environment on a wide variety of model organisms are housed in the GLDS including data from rodents, invertebrates, plants and microbes. Human datasets are currently limited to those with anonymized data (e.g., from cultured cell lines). GeneLab ensures prompt release and open access to high-throughput genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data from spaceflight and ground-based simulations of microgravity, radiation or other space environment factors. The data are meticulously curated to assure that accurate experimental and sample processing metadata are included with each data set. GLDS download volumes indicate strong interest of the scientific community in these data. To date GeneLab has partnered with multiple experiments including two plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) experiments, two mice experiments, and several microbe experiments. GeneLab optimized protocols in the rodent partnerships for maximum yield of RNA, DNA and protein from tissues harvested and preserved during the SpaceX-4 mission, as well as from tissues from mice that were frozen intact during spaceflight and later dissected on the ground. Analysis of GeneLab data will contribute fundamental knowledge of how the space environment affects biological systems, and as well as yield terrestrial benefits resulting from mitigation strategies to prevent effects observed during exposure to space environments.

bioinformatics

GeneLab: Scientific Partnerships and an Open-Access Database to Maximize Usage of Omics Data from Space Biology Experiments

NASA's mission includes expanding our understanding of biological systems to improve life on Earth and to enable long-duration human exploration of space. The GeneLab Data System (GLDS) is NASAs premier open-access omics data platform for biological experiments. GLDS houses standards-compliant, high-throughput sequencing and other omics data from spaceflight-relevant experiments. The GeneLab project at NASA-Ames Research Center is developing the database, and also partnering with spaceflight projects through sharing or augmentation of experiment samples to expand omics analyses on precious spaceflight samples. The partnerships ensure that the maximum amount of data is garnered from spaceflight experiments and made publically available as rapidly as possible via the GLDS. GLDS Version 1.0, went online in April 2015. Software updates and new data releases occur at least quarterly. As of October 2016, the GLDS contains 80 datasets and has search and download capabilities. Version 2.0 is slated for release in September of 2017 and will have expanded, integrated search capabilities leveraging other public omics databases (NCBI GEO, PRIDE, MG-RAST). Future versions in this multi-phase project will provide a collaborative platform for omics data analysis. Data from experiments that explore the biological effects of the spaceflight environment on a wide variety of model organisms are housed in the GLDS including data from rodents, invertebrates, plants and microbes. Human datasets are currently limited to those with anonymized data (e.g., from cultured cell lines). GeneLab ensures prompt release and open access to high-throughput genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data from spaceflight and ground-based simulations of microgravity, radiation or other space environment factors. The data are meticulously curated to assure that accurate experimental and sample processing metadata are included with each data set. GLDS download volumes indicate strong interest of the scientific community in these data. To date GeneLab has partnered with multiple experiments including two plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) experiments, two mice experiments, and several microbe experiments. GeneLab optimized protocols in the rodent partnerships for maximum yield of RNA, DNA and protein from tissues harvested and preserved during the SpaceX-4 mission, as well as from tissues from mice that were frozen intact during spaceflight and later dissected on the ground. Analysis of GeneLab data will contribute fundamental knowledge of how the space environment affects biological systems, and as well as yield terrestrial benefits resulting from mitigation strategies to prevent effects observed during exposure to space environments.

spaceflight