Current computational resources and statistical methods allow the development of descriptive studies, such as the characterization of the genome, proteome,
and metabolome of model species or of an individual, as well as the characterization of a pathological or environmental change condition.Generally we think of descriptive work as being based on observations, with no manipulation of
nature , but if one intends to study a dependent variable, then one changes and/or controls independent variables and observes the consequences .These experiments can be performed in different settings - in the
laboratory, in the field, or through virtual (digital) modeling.It is desirable to use multiple lines of evidence, obtained by different tests or different fields of study, to evaluate any scientific idea.