Genomics for an Interplanetary Future - Kate Rubins

November 19, 2024 - NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, Ph.D., who was the first person to sequence DNA in space, delivered the keynote presentation during NHGRI's annual symposium. She highlighted the importance of biological research on the International Space Station (ISS) and how devising sustainable ways to perform experiments and study the human body on the ISS are crucial for both space exploration and for supporting medical research and healthcare in remote and under-resourced places on Earth. NHGRI Director, Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., provides an introduction.

Kate Rubins was selected by NASA in 2009. Dr. Rubins completed her first spaceflight on Expedition 48/49, where she became the frst person to sequence DNA in space. She holds a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. in cancer biology from Stanford University Medical School Department of Biochemistry and Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Rubins conducted her undergraduate research on HIV-1 integration in the Infectious Diseases Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. She worked as a fellow/principal investigator at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and headed 14 researchers studying viral diseases that primarily affect Central and West Africa. Dr. Rubins most recently served aboard the International Space Station as a fight engineer for Expedition 63/64. Across her two fights, she has spent a total of 300 days in space, the fourth most days in space by a U.S. female astronaut, and performed four spacewalks.

Relevant Links:
Kate Rubins biography: https://www.nasa.gov/people/kate-rubins/
Extreme Science: Sequencing in Space (Joint Genome Institute Blog): https://jgi.doe.gov/may-nasa-extreme-...