Could not agree with your statements more. Doing statistical modelling with a small subset or too many independent variables leads to problems, which seems to be similar to what you are describing. Although I know nothing about machine learning, it would make sense that would be the case. This is off topic, but I'm an undergrad in bioinformatics, and was wondering if you have any tips into where new research may head? I will have to partner with a PI later this fall, and was wondering what kind of project I would pursue