GeneLab: Genes in Space
When plants, mice, and microbes fly to space, their genes respond. NASA saves that genetic data so anyone can study it.
What is GeneLab?
NASA GeneLab collects the genetic data from biology experiments flown in space and keeps it in NASA's Open Science Data Repository (OSDR). Anyone in the world, including students, can download it. A single study might hold the RNA from mouse livers after a month on the International Space Station, or DNA from the microbes growing on astronaut food.
Why spaceflight biology matters
Astronauts heading to the Moon and Mars will spend months away from Earth. To keep them healthy and fed, scientists need to know how bodies, crops, and microbes change in space. The same experiments also teach us about life on Earth: bone loss in space resembles osteoporosis, and plants stressed in orbit reveal genes that could help crops handle drought or heat.
How genes respond to space
Every cell carries the same DNA, but it turns genes on or off to fit its surroundings. Space changes those surroundings in two big ways.
Microgravity
With almost no gravity, fluids shift, muscles and bones carry less load, and plant roots can't tell which way is down. Cells respond by changing gene expression: plants switch on stress and cell-wall genes, and mouse muscle and bone cells lower genes that build tissue.
Space radiation
Outside Earth's magnetic field, high-energy particles can break DNA. Cells respond by switching on DNA-repair genes and stress pathways. If damage is too great, a cell may stop dividing or destroy itself, which helps protect the body from cancer.
Scientists measure these changes by reading which genes are being transcribed into mRNA (RNA sequencing or microarrays) in flight samples and comparing them with matched samples kept on the ground.
Real studies to explore
Twelve studies chosen for this page from NASA's Open Science Data Repository. Each link opens the full study, with its samples, methods, and data files. Search all OSDR studies.
Showing 12 studies.
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OSD-678
Light has a principal role in the Arabidopsis transcriptomic response to the spaceflight environment
Plants in orbit changed which genes they used, and light turned out to shape that response.
Open study OSD-678 on OSDR -
OSD-205
HSFA2 functions in the physiological adaptation of undifferentiated plant cells to spaceflight microgravity environment
Plant cells switched on a heat-shock gene (HSFA2) to cope with microgravity.
Open study OSD-205 on OSDR -
OSD-615
Glycome profiling and immunohistochemistry uncover changes in cell walls of Arabidopsis thaliana roots during spaceflight: Advanced Plant EXperiment (APEX) 03-1 Raw Dataset
Root cell walls built differently in space, part of the Advanced Plant Experiment (APEX-03).
Open study OSD-615 on OSDR -
OSD-268
Microbiological and nutritional analysis of lettuce crops grown on the International Space Station-VEG01B
Lettuce grown in the Veggie garden was checked for microbes and nutrients to see if astronauts could eat it.
Open study OSD-268 on OSDR -
OSD-412
Spatial characterization of microbial communities on multi-species leafy greens grown simultaneously in the Veggie vegetable production systems on the International Space Station VEG-03D
Scientists mapped which microbes lived on leafy greens grown together in Veggie.
Open study OSD-412 on OSDR -
OSD-100
Rodent Research-1 (RR1) NASA Validation Flight: Mouse eye transcriptomic and epigenomic data
The first Rodent Research mission measured gene activity and DNA methylation in mouse eyes.
Open study OSD-100 on OSDR -
OSD-212
Reproducible changes in gut microbiome reveal a shift in microbial and host metabolism during spaceflight
Mice in space had a shifted gut microbiome, which changed both microbe and host metabolism.
Open study OSD-212 on OSDR -
OSD-278
Spaceflight and simulated microgravity conditions increase virulence of Serratia marcescens in the Drosophila melanogaster infection model
Bacteria that grew in spaceflight conditions made fruit flies sicker.
Open study OSD-278 on OSDR -
OSD-3
Drosophila melanogaster gene expression changes after spaceflight
An early shuttle study of how fruit fly gene expression changes after spaceflight.
Open study OSD-3 on OSDR -
OSD-41
Microgravity effect on C. elegans N2/VC (CERISE, 8days)
Tiny roundworms spent eight days on the space shuttle so scientists could compare their gene activity.
Open study OSD-41 on OSDR -
OSD-156
Identifying radiation exposure biomarkers from mouse blood transcriptome
Ground study searching mouse blood for genes that signal radiation exposure, a key risk beyond Earth.
Open study OSD-156 on OSDR -
OSD-961
Beneficial microbes mitigate molecular stress responses and accelerate developmental pathways in host animals during spaceflight
Partner bacteria helped squid handle stress in space, showing how microbes support their hosts.
Open study OSD-961 on OSDR
Study information from NASA's Open Science Data Repository (GeneLab), checked October 2026. See Credits & Licenses.