Given Unlimited Resources, What Would Be Your Dream Experiment?

Question

[Damian Kao]

Here is kind of a fun question: (mods feel free to move this post if you feel it doesn't belong here)

Let's say there are technologies available to fully sequence genomes/transcriptomes/whatever with extremely high accuracy and completeness. You are given enough resources to do whatever you want (within reason), what would be your dream experiment/project?

Answer 1

[Will]

Measure the expression level of every gene in every tissue in every individual for their entire lifetime.

[Sudeep]

I would add polymorphisms and regulatory regions to that :)

[Will]

If you did RNA-seq you'd get that info too :)

[Maxime Lamontagne]

I would also add some characteristics such as age, weight, size, hair color, eye color........ to infinity and beyond.

Answer 2

[Manu Prestat]

The same as now but with the 3 "R" rule: Replicates, Replicates and Replicates!!

[Leonor Palmeira]

++++1

This is so true, and yet so quickly forgotten when planning an experience... ;-)

Answer 3

[Mary]

I would take a small island of some sort--probably with a lighthouse--and sample everything I could. Tide pools, soil, every plant, every animal, every lichen, every mold, anything I could grab a sample. And catalog the whole thing.

Of course, I'd have to live on the island.

[Leonor Palmeira]

I would go to Australia for that :-) Very nice place to study evolution!

[Will]

That's a cool idea too :)