7 ms·

Just because it's consistent doesn't mean it's not impacting the outcomes in an important way.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
But a warmer temperature could also be impacting outcomes, right? It seems to me that the temperature just needs to be both controlled and documented.
- nwienert 6y ago
  It would at least need to be tested at both, you can’t guarantee the cooler temp isn’t doing anything.
  - frabert 6y ago
    I think the point is, whatever the impact of cool or warm temperatures are, as long as it is the same in all the experiments it should not matter.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - nitrogen 6y ago
      It matters if the effect size is dependent on temperature.
    - jmcgough 6y ago
      I have read hundreds of research papers, and I don't think I've ever seen one that described the temperature that the rat housing is kept at. It's definitely not something that's controlled for right now.
      - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
        Oh, totally understood, that clearly ought to change! My only point was, the article was framing this as an issue of scientist comfort, ie human researchers don't want to work in hot labs. I don't see why they should have to, at least in most cases.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        jmcgough 6y ago
        We study rats because they're an inexpensive and ethical replacement for humans, with the assumption that some of the research will carry over to other mammals. It's harder for that work to translate over if we keep them in abnormal environments that affect their behavior or physiology.
        methodin 6y ago
        Is it even possible not to "keep them in abnormal environments that affect their behavior or physiology"? Putting a rate in a cage alone is an abnormal environment for a rat.
        nwienert 6y ago
        The point is to reduce confounders as much as possible.
    - mennis16 6y ago
      Not if the temperature has an effect on the intervention you are trying to study. Taken to an extreme, you obviously cannot house mice in a freezer and expect generalizable results.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
rolph 6y ago
it is very common to see publications such as "regulation of [gene1] expression by interaction with product of [gene2]" followed by "temperature dependency of [gene2product] regulation of [gene1]" absolute temperature of culture can confound you into negative results so you will never see the genes activity until the experiment is replicated with culturally disparate subjects. thats just being simple as well, there is normally a continuum of influences and its up to experiment to tease out the largest contributor[s] to the effect of interest

But a warmer temperature could also be impacting outcomes, right? It seems to me that the temperature just needs to be both controlled and documented.

nwienert 6y ago
It would at least need to be tested at both, you can’t guarantee the cooler temp isn’t doing anything.
- frabert 6y ago
  I think the point is, whatever the impact of cool or warm temperatures are, as long as it is the same in all the experiments it should not matter.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - nitrogen 6y ago
    It matters if the effect size is dependent on temperature.
  - jmcgough 6y ago
    I have read hundreds of research papers, and I don't think I've ever seen one that described the temperature that the rat housing is kept at. It's definitely not something that's controlled for right now.
    - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      Oh, totally understood, that clearly ought to change! My only point was, the article was framing this as an issue of scientist comfort, ie human researchers don't want to work in hot labs. I don't see why they should have to, at least in most cases.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - jmcgough 6y ago
        We study rats because they're an inexpensive and ethical replacement for humans, with the assumption that some of the research will carry over to other mammals. It's harder for that work to translate over if we keep them in abnormal environments that affect their behavior or physiology.
        methodin 6y ago
        Is it even possible not to "keep them in abnormal environments that affect their behavior or physiology"? Putting a rate in a cage alone is an abnormal environment for a rat.
        nwienert 6y ago
        The point is to reduce confounders as much as possible.
  - mennis16 6y ago
    Not if the temperature has an effect on the intervention you are trying to study. Taken to an extreme, you obviously cannot house mice in a freezer and expect generalizable results.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

rolph 6y ago

it is very common to see publications such as "regulation of [gene1] expression by interaction with product of [gene2]" followed by "temperature dependency of [gene2product] regulation of [gene1]" absolute temperature of culture can confound you into negative results so you will never see the genes activity until the experiment is replicated with culturally disparate subjects. thats just being simple as well, there is normally a continuum of influences and its up to experiment to tease out the largest contributor[s] to the effect of interest