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An Open-Science Approach to Address Individual Response to Simulated GCR In Genetically Diverse Populations of Mice and Humans

This project addresses the challenge of understanding and predicting individual radiation sensitivity by integrating genetics, demographics and biomarker characteristics across species (mice and humans). We hypothesize that ex vivo DNA repair response to GCR components is a central determinant of cancer risk from space radiation and can serve as a biomarker of radiation risk in combination with genetics. 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 in non-immortalized primary skin fibroblasts derived from 76 mice across 15 strains (5 inbred reference strains and 10 collaborative-cross strains) exposed to X rays (0.1, 1 and 4 Gy), 350 MeV/n 40Ar and 600 MeV/n 56Fe (1.1 and 3 particles/100sq. μm), as well as in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 768 healthy donors (matched ethnicity, 50/50 male/female, 18-70 years old) exposed to gamma rays (0.1 and 1 Gy), 350 MeV/n 28Si, 350 MeV/n 40Ar and 600 MeV/n 56Fe (1.1 and 3 particles/100sq. μm). A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed on the mouse strains between DNA damage responses to space radiation and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We found SNPs, which were significantly associated to the RIF phenotype, mapped to genes and pathways that are functionally linked to health hazards for deep space exploration (e.g. carcinogenesis, nervous system damage and immune dysfunction). Some of these SNPs were located within protein coding regions, potentially interfering with protein functions and providing promising genetic targets for countermeasures. We also found correlations between both spontaneous and radiation-induced DNA damage and SNPs mapped to pathways associated with cellular metabolism. GWAS is undergoing for the human data. All data have been made available via the NASA Space Biology Open-Science database (genelab.nasa.gov) and we will discuss how various genomic and transcriptomic datasets can be accessed for modeling and integrated using machine learning methods for discovering new radiation biology.

Sylvain V Costes

RadLab: A Comprehensive Database and Analysis Toolkit for Space Radiation Measurements Relevant to Space Radiation Biology

RadLab, a new addition to the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), is a public platform for space radiation data relevant to human space exploration. RadLab consists of a database, a submission portal, and user-friendly visualization and data analysis tools, including a graphical user interface (GUI) and an application programming interface (API). Investigators from ISS partners including Germany, Italy, Canada, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia, Japan have committed to providing data from their instruments. RadLab will also include data from other spacecraft in LEO: the Space Shuttle, the Mir space station, biosatellites; and beyond LEO: the lunar and the Martian surface, the heliocentric orbit at 1 AU, Mars orbit, and Earth-Mars space. Once fully operational, RadLab will provide open, centralized access to space radiation physics data relevant to human space exploration; a platform for submission of data by agencies and research institutions responsible for radiation detectors deployed in space; analysis tools to facilitate detector and dataset intercomparison to better understand space habitat radiation environments; capabilities for space biology investigators to determine the radiation environment to which samples were exposed. A RadLab Working Group (RLWG) has been formed, modeled on the GeneLab Analysis Working Groups and comprised of data contributors and users. RLWG tasks include identifying data sources, normalizing data from diverse detectors, expanding the analysis toolkit and, perhaps most importantly, sharing ideas for research exploiting capabilities of RadLab. We will provide an overview of RadLab data and capabilities and discuss examples of its potential as a resource for open science.

radiation

Data Sharing in Radiobiology; Towards FAIR

The value of scientific data depends on their findability, accessibility, integrability and reusability according to the FAIR principles. Together with the sustainability of data preservation and access, these principles underpin the long term benefits of scientific research. Within the domain of radiobiology we have a huge array of data types, themes and complexities which make standardisation of metadata, data structure and data integration very challenging. Moreover, it is clear that, for example, in the area of disaster preparedness, the ready discovery and availability of multiple types of data, for example on biological effects of exposure, climatology, ecology, human behavioural and attitudinal studies, is important for an integrated scientific approach. Because these data are spread over many databases, journal supplementary information resources and even the computers of the investigators, their discovery and reuse can be challenging. Despite exhortations from funding agencies and scientific institutions over the past two decades there is still a serious deficit in the willingness and in some cases the ability of investigators to share data, and although much may not be formally „Public domain“, information about the existence of the data, their metadata, and how to obtain them should always be available. We report the progress of work on three databases, the STORE and the NASA GeneLab and LSDA repositories to leverage the Radiation Biology Ontology (RBO), a structured terminology for metadata that can be used by all radiation biology-relevant databases to unite federated and automated data searches across multiple databases, for example using web services, and through semantic web technologies supporting data discovery. The initial primary use-cases for RBO were archiving data in the STORE database (https://www.storedb.org/), the repository used for the RadoNorm and Pianoforte Projects among others, and in the NASA Open Science Data Repository (https://osdr.nasa.gov/bio). The scope of radiobiology research ranges from basic physics to radiation oncology to sociolegal studies; no existing ontology had the necessary breadth or depth to fulfill this need. In addition, a formal ontology has the advantage of being usable for machine learning and, importantly, for tasks like data integration, knowledge extraction from the scientific literature and for query extension and data classification. Standardisation of metadata is one of the primary objectives of the FAIR principles for open data; RBO is an important landmark for FAIR-compliant radiation biology data sharing. The RBO is developed using the open-source tools of GitHub and the OBO Foundry-led Ontology Development Kit, and published through GitHub and the NIH/NCBI BioPortal website. This initial phase of concept modeling has yielded an ontology that has more than 300 declared concepts, with more than 3500 additional concepts imported from other OBO Foundry ontologies with relevance to radiation biology (for example, concepts from the ISO standard Basic Formal Ontology, the Environment Ontology and the Gene Ontology). We welcome input into the development of RBO and encourage its adoption.

ontologies

Data Sharing in Radiation Biology: Towards FAIR

The value of scientific data depends on their findability, accessibility, integrability and reusability according to the FAIR principles. Together with the sustainability of data preservation and access, these principles underpin the long term benefits of scientific research. Within the domain of radiobiology we have a huge array of data types, themes and complexities which make standardisation of metadata, data structure and data integration very challenging. Moreover, it is clear that, for example, in the area of disaster preparedness, the ready discovery and availability of multiple types of data, for example on biological effects of exposure, climatology, ecology, human behavioural and attitudinal studies, is important for an integrated scientific approach. Because these data are spread over many databases, journal supplementary information resources and even the computers of the investigators, their discovery and reuse can be challenging. Despite exhortations from funding agencies and scientific institutions over the past two decades there is still a serious deficit in the willingness and in some cases the ability of investigators to share data, and although much may not be formally "Public domain“, information about the existence of the data, their metadata, and how to obtain them should always be available. We report the progress of work on three databases, the STORE and the NASA GeneLab and LSDA repositories to leverage the Radiation Biology Ontology (RBO), a structured terminology for metadata that can be used by all radiation biology-relevant databases to unite federated and automated data searches across multiple databases, for example using web services, and through semantic web technologies supporting data discovery. The initial primary use-cases for RBO were archiving data in the STORE database (https://www.storedb.org/), the repository used for the RadoNorm and Pianoforte Projects among others, and in the NASA Open Science Data Repository (https://osdr.nasa.gov/bio). The scope of radiobiology research ranges from basic physics to radiation oncology to sociolegal studies; no existing ontology had the necessary breadth or depth to fulfill this need. In addition, a formal ontology has the advantage of being usable for machine learning and, importantly, for tasks like data integration, knowledge extraction from the scientific literature and for query extension and data classification. Standardisation of metadata is one of the primary objectives of the FAIR principles for open data; RBO is an important landmark for FAIR-compliant radiation biology data sharing. The RBO is developed using the open-source tools of GitHub and the OBO Foundry-led Ontology Development Kit, and published through GitHub and the NIH/NCBI BioPortal website. This initial phase of concept modeling has yielded an ontology that has more than 300 declared concepts, with more than 3500 additional concepts imported from other OBO Foundry ontologies with relevance to radiation biology (for example, concepts from the ISO standard Basic Formal Ontology, the Environment Ontology and the Gene Ontology). We welcome input into the development of RBO and encourage its adoption.

ontologies

Open Science for Plants in Space: Data Sharing, Standards, and Informatics for Reuse and Knowledge Discovery

Upcoming deep space missions rely on plants and crops for crew and ecosystem health. Access to space plant data enables scientists to gain a deeper understanding of biological responses to ionizing radiation, altered gravity, low atmospheric pressure, elevated CO2, and altered photoperiods. Open Science is the practice of making research available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, fostering collaborations with equity. 2023 is the ‘Year of Open Science’, and NASA has a 5-year Transform to Open Science (TOPS) mission designed to rapidly transform the agency toward an inclusive culture of open science. NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) developed by NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division provides access to data from space-relevant biological experiments. OSDR combines two databases, GeneLab and Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) to maximize access to standardized ‘omics (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics) and phenotypic data (e.g., microscopy, biomass), respectively. OSDR started in 2014 with the creation of the first space-relevant FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) biological ‘omics repository (GeneLab), providing detailed metadata on investigation, sample, and assay levels. Today, GeneLab hosts 62 plant datasets which have led to 5 published peer-reviewed meta-analysis publications. Most of these publications were collaboration efforts under the OSDR Analysis Working Groups (AWGs). AWGs provide great opportunities for investigators to collaborate and set new standards for space-relevant data and metadata. The AWGs are welcoming any ASPB members interested in providing plant expertise for space biology. The addition of ALSDA to OSDR is also expanding analysis capability beyond ‘omics. Now is the time to get involved as a Subject Matter Expert as we establish the framework for modern plant data archiving through the AWGs. Investigators are invited to submit their space-relevant plant datasets to OSDR and visit the site to learn about the tools OSDR has to offer (osdr.nasa.gov/bio).

FAIR

Open Science for Plants in Space: Data Sharing, Standards, and Informatics for Reuse and Knowledge Discovery

Upcoming deep space missions will rely on plants for crew and ecosystem health. Open access space biology data enables scientists to examine the biological responses of plants to ionizing radiation, altered gravity, low atmospheric pressure, elevated CO2, altered photoperiods and many other abiotic stressors. Open Science is the practice of making research available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, and fostering collaborations with equity. 2023 is the ‘Year of Open Science’, and NASA has a 5-year Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative designed to rapidly transform the agency toward an inclusive culture of open science. NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) within NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division provides access to data from space-relevant biological experiments. OSDR combines two databases, GeneLab and Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) to maximize access to standardized ‘omics (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics) and phenotypic data (e.g., microscopy, biomass), respectively. GeneLab started in 2014 with the creation of the first space-relevant FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) biological ‘omics repository, providing detailed metadata on investigation, sample, and assay levels. The addition of ALSDA to OSDR expands plant data analysis capabilities across both phenotypic and ‘omics data. Today, OSDR hosts 62+ plant datasets and has enabled 58 peer-reviewed publications. Most of these publications were collaboration efforts under the OSDR Analysis Working Groups (AWGs). AWGs provide great opportunities for investigators to collaborate and set new standards for space-relevant data and metadata. The AWGs welcome any ASPB members interested in contributing plant expertise for space biology, and to serve as subject matter experts as we establish the framework for modern plant data archiving. Investigators are invited to submit their space-relevant plant datasets to OSDR and visit the site to learn about the tools OSDR has to offer (osdr.nasa.gov/bio).

FAIR

Open Science for Plants in Space: Data Sharing, Standards, and Informatics for Reuse and Knowledge Discovery

Upcoming deep space missions will rely on plants for crew and ecosystem health. Open access space biology data enables scientists to examine the biological responses of plants to ionizing radiation, altered gravity, low atmospheric pressure, elevated CO2, altered photoperiods and many other abiotic stressors. Open Science is the practice of making research available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, to foster collaborations with equity. NASA has declared 2023 as the ‘Year of Open Science’ and created a 5-year Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative designed to rapidly transform the agency toward an inclusive culture of open science. NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) within the Biological and Physical Sciences Division provides access to data from space-relevant biological experiments. OSDR combines two databases, GeneLab and Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) to maximize access to standardized ‘omics (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics) and phenotypic data (e.g., microscopy, biomass), respectively. GeneLab started in 2014 with the creation of the first space-relevant FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) biological ‘omics repository, providing detailed metadata on investigation, sample, and assay levels. The addition of ALSDA to OSDR expands plant data analysis capabilities across both phenotypic and ‘omics data. Today, OSDR hosts 62+ plant datasets and has enabled 58 peer-reviewed publications. Most of these publications were collaboration efforts under the OSDR Analysis Working Groups (AWGs). AWGs provide great opportunities for investigators to collaborate with community members and set new standards for space-relevant data and metadata. The AWGs welcome any ASGSR members interested in contributing plant expertise for space biology, and to serve as subject matter experts as we establish the framework for modern plant data archiving. Investigators are encouraged to submit their space-relevant plant datasets to OSDR and visit the site to learn about the tools OSDR has to offer (osdr.nasa.gov/bio).

FAIR

Bioinformatics for Exploration

For the purpose of this paper, bioinformatics is defined as the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. It can be thought of as the science of developing computer databases and algorithms to facilitate and expedite biological research. This is a crosscutting capability that supports nearly all human health areas ranging from computational modeling, to pharmacodynamics research projects, to decision support systems within autonomous medical care. Bioinformatics serves to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the life sciences research program. It provides data, information, and knowledge capture which further supports management of the bioastronautics research roadmap - identifying gaps that still remain and enabling the determination of which risks have been addressed.

Johnson, Kathy A.

Shedding Light on Microbial Dark Matter with A Universal Language of Life

The majority of microbial genomes have yet to be cultured, and most proteins predicted from microbial genomes or sequenced from the environment cannot be functionally annotated. As a result, current computational approaches to describe microbial systems rely on incomplete reference databases that cannot adequately capture the full functional diversity of the microbial tree of life, limiting our ability to model high-level features of biological sequences. The scientific community needs a means to capture the functionally and evolutionarily relevant features underlying biology, independent of our incomplete reference databases. Such a model can form the basis for transfer learning tasks, enabling downstream applications in environmental microbiology, medicine, and bioengineering. Here we present LookingGlass, a deep learning model capturing a “universal language of life”. LookingGlass encodes contextually-aware, functionally and evolutionarily relevant representations of short DNA reads, distinguishing reads of disparate function, homology, and environmental origin. We demonstrate the ability of LookingGlass to be fine-tuned to perform a range of diverse tasks: to identify novel oxidoreductases, to predict enzyme optimal temperature, and to recognize the reading frames of DNA sequence fragments. LookingGlass is the first contextually-aware, general purpose pre-trained “biological language” representation model for short-read DNA sequences. LookingGlass enables functionally relevant representations of otherwise unknown and unannotated sequences, shedding light on the microbial dark matter that dominates life on Earth.

A Hoarfrost

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes

This report lists reports, articles and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Source record

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes

This report lists reports, articles and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion.

Source record

Biological Insights at the Interface of Multiple Arabidopsis Legacy Datasets

The NASA GeneLab database includes an open-access collection of datasets yielded by space biology experiments. Six Gene Lab Data Sets (GLDS’s) performed in Arabidopsis were selected for analysis (7/17/44/121/205/213), all of which included transcriptome data from spaceflight and ground control environments. Hardware, ecotype, environmental conditions, and other experimental conditions varied, allowing the observations of overarching gene expression impacts of microgravity on plant life without focusing on effects of specific experimental conditions. Using GeneLab pre-processed datasets as the basis for the study, RNA microarray data were analyzed to identify genes that showed altered expression in microgravity when compared to control samples for each individual GLDS. All differentially expressed genes were compared to locate differentially expressed genes common between spaceflight experiments. The most noteworthy result is that not one gene shared differential expression among the six GLDS’s. However, gene expression was not influenced randomly by the microgravity environment, as there were several gene ontology terms that were significantly enriched across all experiments. These included 20 significantly enriched biological processes, and although the genes which enriched each term varied, there were many cases of specific genes common to clusters of multiple GLDS’s. Gene expression such as NAC92 and ERF011 or membrane structural element FFP6 provide insight and direction toward understanding the plant response to spaceflight. Characterizing these common processes and the shared differentially expressed genes has demonstrated potential targets for further study to understand and modulate the biological response of plants in microgravity. Life on Earth has never been subjected to the absence of gravity as a selective pressure, so observing how life forms react to a microgravity environment could provide insight to our shared fundamental biological processes. It is also feasible that the genetic modification of specific genes linked to the microgravity response could improve health and yield of space crops.

Joseph Emhof

Increasing accessibility to deep learning-based analytics for space biology: pretrained models, transfer learning, and analytics platform development

Biological systems react in complex ways to the stressors of spaceflight, and the data capturing these relationships is concomitantly high-dimensional and complex. Deep learning and machine learning approaches are increasingly popular as an analytical approach for space biosciences, due to their ability to model complex relationships in complex data. However, such approaches often require large datasets and extensive computational resources. New approaches that minimize data sizes and computational power needed to leverage machine learning, and resources that make these approaches accessible, are needed to increase accessibility and adoption of machine learning in the space biosciences. Transfer learning, in which a pretrained model of broad utility is trained on a large dataset, and subsequently reused on downstream applications for which data is more limited, is one approach to minimizing data and computational intensity of deep learning applications. This transfer learning approach results in more performant models in high-dimensional, low-sample-size settings such as space biology, as compared to training models on limited data from scratch. This presentation will outline efforts to generate pretrained models for the space biology community, and highlight transfer learning applications modeling microbial antibiotic resistance during spaceflight. Finally, in order to increase accessibility of these models and tools, as well as others, for the broader space biology community, we present a modeling and analysis platform facilitating machine learning applications in space biology. This platform streamlines machine learning training and analysis in a notebook format, facilitates download and use of space biology data from the NASA GeneLab database, and can be utilized on NASA-hosted servers or downloaded and hosted locally. This effort, as part of the AI4LS (Artificial Intelligence for Life in Space) working group, will increase accessibility, feasibility, and performance of machine learning approaches for the space biology community.

Adrienne Hoarfrost

Hydroponics Database and Handbook for the Advanced Life Support Test Bed

During the summer 1998, I did student assistance to Dr. Daniel J. Barta, chief plant growth expert at Johnson Space Center - NASA. We established the preliminary stages of a hydroponic crop growth database for the Advanced Life Support Systems Integration Test Bed, otherwise referred to as BIO-Plex (Biological Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex). The database summarizes information from published technical papers by plant growth experts, and it includes bibliographical, environmental and harvest information based on plant growth under varying environmental conditions. I collected 84 lettuce entries, 14 soybean, 49 sweet potato, 16 wheat, 237 white potato, and 26 mix crop entries. The list will grow with the publication of new research. This database will be integrated with a search and systems analysis computer program that will cross-reference multiple parameters to determine optimum edible yield under varying parameters. Also, we have made preliminary effort to put together a crop handbook for BIO-Plex plant growth management. It will be a collection of information obtained from experts who provided recommendations on a particular crop's growing conditions. It includes bibliographic, environmental, nutrient solution, potential yield, harvest nutritional, and propagation procedure information. This handbook will stand as the baseline growth conditions for the first set of experiments in the BIO-Plex facility.

Allen J Nasb

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion.

Source record

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract. The NASA CASI price code table, addresses of organizations, and document availability information are included before the abstract section. Two indexes--subject and author are included after the abstract section.

Source record

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1998-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Source record