code: def toProtocolElement(self):
          
          # TODO this is very incomplete, but we don't have the
          # implementation to fill out the rest of the fields currently
          readGroup = protocol.ReadGroup()
          readGroup.id = self.getId()
          readGroup.created = self._creationTime
          readGroup.updated = self._updateTime
          dataset = self.getParentContainer().getParentContainer()
          readGroup.dataset_id = dataset.getId()
          readGroup.name = self.getLocalId()
          readGroup.predicted_insert_size = pb.int(self.getPredictedInsertSize())
          referenceSet = self._parentContainer.getReferenceSet()
          readGroup.sample_name = pb.string(self.getSampleName())
          readGroup.biosample_id = pb.string(self.getBiosampleId())
          if referenceSet is not None:
              readGroup.reference_set_id = referenceSet.getId()
          readGroup.stats.CopyFrom(self.getStats())
          readGroup.programs.extend(self.getPrograms())
          readGroup.description = pb.string(self.getDescription())
          readGroup.experiment.CopyFrom(self.getExperiment())
          self.serializeAttributes(readGroup)
          return readGroup
docs: Returns the GA4GH protocol representation of this ReadGroup.