Mason Lab

Our laboratory develops and deploys computational and experimental methodologies to identify the functional genetic elements of the human genome and metagenome. To do this, we perform research in three principal areas: (1) molecular profiling in patients with extreme phenotypes, including brain malformations, aggressive cancers, and astronauts, (2) creating new biochemical and computational techniques in DNA/RNA sequencing and DNA/RNA base modifications, and (3) the development of bioinformatics models for systems biology and metagenomics. We use high-throughput sequencing methods to generate single-cell, city-scale, and space-based multi-dimensional molecular maps of humans and their environments. We then develop algorithms to leverage these data for detecting, cataloging and functionally annotating interactions between these molecular changes and also connect them to larger datasets (ENCODE, ICGC, MetaSUB) for replication and contextualization. In the very long term, we believe these systems-based methods will enable an understanding of the functional elements of the human genome and embedded metagenome, such that we can begin to repair or re-engineer these genetic networks for ameliorating disease and lay the foundation to enable long-term human spaceflight.