Death by statistics — When one replicate is enough

This week, I committed statistical blasphemy by arguing that, in some cases, one replicate can be enough for a specific type of molecular biology experiment. Before you rush to conclusions, let me explain. I haven’t lost my mind. A single experiment would prove me wrong What I like about this quote To be less and less wrong How many replicates is enough? One single replicate can prove me wrong Continuously revising your knowledge is what makes you a scientist A real-world example of a single replicate experiment Always account for opportunity cost It didn’t end there When a single replicate of an RNA-seq experiment is enough Proof of Concept Exploratory Experiments Negative Control Confirmation Clear, Robust Phenotypes Resource Limitations Specific Experiments (e.g., Genome Annotations, Response Curves, Time Courses ) Rare Samples