Querying published experiments

Use publicly available data in Pluto to level-up your own research

Written by Rani Powers, PhD


In Pluto, you can use the Explore tab to search for published experiments and explore them interactively for your own research!

🔒 Remember: All experiments securely stored in Pluto are private by default. Public experiments on the Explore page were published by their author and made publicly available.

Let's get started exploring!

Step 1: Search for relevant experiments

Use the search bar on the left sidebar of the Explore tab to search for a term that's relevant to your research. You can also turn on filters for organism and experiment type.

For example, you can search for "trisomy 21" and select only human experiments:


Step 2: Analyze the experiment

Click on an experiment card to view the plots and data. In Pluto, interactive plots are near the top of the page, and the corresponding data can be found below. Plots and data can be downloaded using the 3-dot menus in their upper right corners.



You can also create your own exploratory plots using all of the published data by clicking the + Exploratory Plot button in the upper right!



The types of analyses and plots you can create will vary depending on the type of experiment. For a full tutorial on creating exploratory plots, check out the exploratory plot guide here!

Step 3: Attribution

If you use any data found on Pluto, please be sure to cite the original authors. Their contact information and affiliation can usually be found in the experiment description. (You may need to click the "Read more" link in the description to see it!) You can also use the link in the upper right to view the original source data for an experiment if it was published on GEO or another database. To do so, open the experiment and click on the blue link in the top right:



If you use any plots that you generated with Pluto in research papers or any other materials, you must also provide attribution with the following statement:

Great! With an annual subscription, your organization can use Pluto to upload and manage your own private projects and experiments too. You're in control of your data at all times and can choose when to share it privately with internal or external collaborators.

To learn more about using Pluto for your lab:

For detailed information regarding private and public experiment data, refer to Pluto's Terms of Use.