Is there any specific research that took longer than expected .

Question: Is there any specific research that took longer than expected .
- Keywords:
  project,
  research,
  time
Asked by anon-375293 to Michael C on 23 Nov 2023.
- Michael C Macey answered on 23 Nov 2023:
  
  In terms of my research, I would say getting DNA out of the microbes that live in extreme environments. For my PhD I worked on soil microbes, which was fairly simple, and I assumed it might be with salty sediments – however, the chemistry of these salts (high salt, sulfur and some heavy metals) interferes with the DNA extraction AND the number of cells is much lower.
  
  I have managed to design some methods to overcome this now but this took a lot longer than I hoped!