What’s the newest movement to hit the blockchain? Decentralized science, otherwise known as “DeSci.” This movement is picking up pace, experiencing much growth recently. Around the world, scientists are rapidly realizing the benefits of blockchain technology. They have discovered that by using the blockchain they can drastically improve their: fundraising, communication with other scientists, and freedom from monopolizing publisher companies.
First, fundraising has not been an easy feat. Too much time is being wasted writing grant proposals when scientists could actually be using that time to do more research. Steven Segler told Science.org, “(it takes) one to two months to write a good (grant) proposal.” By using the blockchain and cryptocurrency to fundraise instead, scientists save more time to do other things. These things could be tesing data, discovering cures, formulating new ideas, etc. There is a large amount of researchers who never get to research their ideas because they are not skilled in finding funding. However, by using the blockchain to share their proposals, individuals and communities across the globe can view these ideas and invest in those they favor.
Another problem scientists face today is sharing their data collectively. Most publishing companies will only post journals that will sell. Newspapers and magazines want big ideas and big results. Incidentally, negative results hardly ever get published. Newspapers simply think, no one really cares about what studies failed. However, there is much to gain from the failures of others. Databases upon databases full of biomedical data and test results, only accessible by a few select people. Scientists are constantly repeating tests without knowing that such-and-such “XYZ” test has already been done in such-and-such “XYZ” country. The DeSci revolution strives to connect scientists and their data all across the world. As Melanie Basnak from Harvard University stated, “Scientists in poorer countries don’t usually publish in such journals, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not smart or don’t work hard enough.” The game of publishing in science journals is limited to those with heavy pockets. This is fine for them, but what about the little guy? There are tons of awesome scientists around the world doing awesome work, only for no one to ever see it because they don’t have the connections, money, or means to publish.
Scientific article publication is highly centralized. Half of all academic publishing is run by only five companies. Vincent Larivière from the University of Montreal in Canada told the press, “While it’s true that publishers have historically played a vital role in the dissemination of knowledge in the print era, it is questionable whether they are still necessary in today’s digital era.” DeSci companies aim for everyone to have ownership of their medical data, and to be compensated in the sharing of such data.
Molecule, a new biopharma marketplace platform built on Ethereum, aims to be a “collaborative platform where stakeholders in drug development work together,” where they plan to “connect leading researchers to investors” (molecule.to).
They believe in an open source, decentralized, drug developing democracy. By using IPNFT’s (intellectual property non-fungible tokens), anybody can share ownership on research projects. On their website, they already have featured projects you can look at and help fund. Currently, their two projects are: “Brain Cell Replacement Therapy” and “Data Driven Anti-Ageing Drug Discovery.”
The opportunity for growth in this industry is tremendous. Scientists are tired of relying on publishing giants; they want freedom to alter the way their research is funded, share their research data, and collaborate with other scientists. DeSci is providing excitement and hope that all this will be possible. This may just be the next big step technologically and digitally for science. The journey has just begun. As George Bernard Shaw put it, “If you have an apple and I have an apple and if we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
My (Excellent) Sources:
“A Day In The Life of a Grant Writer” by Elisabeth Pain:
https://www.science.org/content/article/day-life-grant-writer
DeSci World:
https://desci.world
Image:
https://shutterstock.com
Molecule:
About Us https://www.molecule.to/about-us
Whitepaper https://docs.molecule.to/documentation/introduction/what-is-molecule
“These Five Companies Control More Than Half of Academic Publishing” by Fiona MacDonald: https://www.sciencealert.com/these-five-companies-control-more-than-half-of-academic-publishing
