# NCBI Gene Database Lookup

> NCBI Gene Database Lookup is a paid API for AI agents from bio.memoryapi.org, paid per call via x402, $0.005/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Retrieves gene function, chromosome location, aliases, and disease associations from the NCBI Gene database for a given gene query.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://bio.memoryapi.org/x402/bio/gene
- Price: $0.005/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/bio-memoryapi-org-81f4e0d8
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_RK5eY-7wKvUaIxXOMR-xq

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability bio-memoryapi-org-81f4e0d8
```

Example prompt: What does the BRCA2 gene do — can you look up its function, chromosome location, any aliases, and which diseases it's associated with from the NCBI Gene database?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need authoritative gene-level information from NCBI including function, genomic location, aliases, and disease links. Prefer this over protein-focused endpoints (UniProt) when the question is specifically about gene identity, chromosomal context, or gene-disease relationships rather than protein sequence or 3D structure.

## Known failure modes

- Gene not found in NCBI database returns empty or error response
- Ambiguous gene name matching multiple genes may return unexpected results
- Payment of $0.005 USDC required per call; missing payment returns 402
- Rate limiting or service unavailability returns 5xx errors

## How this service works

NCBI Gene database — gene function, chromosome location, aliases, and disease associations.

## Output

Returns structured gene data from NCBI including gene function/description, chromosome location, official gene symbol, aliases, and associated diseases or phenotypes.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "required": [
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/bio-memoryapi-org-81f4e0d8/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from bio.memoryapi.org](https://www.zero.xyz/host/bio.memoryapi.org/llms.txt)