In our first episode of The Next Experiment, we start by unpacking that all-important question: 

Why is biology so hard? 

In order to answer it, we get into the fundamentals. The nature of nature. 

We talk about how biology’s interconnectedness makes experimentation in biology so uncertain; why the standard method of varying one parameter at a time isn’t cutting it; and how switching to a multidimensional approach is more important for biology than any other scientific discipline.

Conversation highlights

00:00 Introduction

00:45 Why biology is different from other scientific disciplines

03:40 What emergence means, and how it relates to biological systems

06:03 Chemistry is a “solved problem”, and biological systems are “black boxes”

12:18 How multidimensional methods helped Markus make definitive progress

16:50 The counter-intuitive science lessons Phil remembers from primary school

We’re Markus and Phil, a biologist and statistician.

We decided to come together and discuss the best experiments to cut through biological complexity.

If you have this sense that there might be a better way of making progress in biology, subscribe and join us.

Stay tuned for our very first episode, launching on November 6th.