5 DeSci projects disrupting scientific research and development
2021 was the year of decentralization, and this momentum has only increased into 2022. Not only have we seen incredible growth in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, but we’ve also seen the emergence of social impact DAOs, decentralized media platforms, decentralized VC funds, and more recently, the emergence of a new field – Decentralized Science, or DeSci.
In short, “the decentralized science (DeSci) movement aims to harness new technologies such as blockchain and ‘Web3’ to address some important research pain points, silos and bottlenecks.” Whereas scientific research has long been viewed as overly bureaucratic and disjointed, the DeSci movement aims to improve this by using blockchain to offer greater transparency and to take on the “profit hungry intermediaries” such as scientific journals, that have dominated the traditional research space.
For some resources on DeSci, I recommend you check out the following articles:
For this blog post, we will be highlighting 5 DeSci projects that are leading the way and positively disrupting scientific research and development.
1. VitaDAO
One of the best examples of DeSci in action is VitaDAO, a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) focused on funding longevity research in “an open and democratic manner.” Specifically, they are focused on the decentralization of drug development focused on the extension of human life and healthspan. They fund early-stage research, with the goal of turning the research into biotech companies.
VitaDAO is government by holders of VITA tokens, which can either be purchased or earned through contributions of work or intellectual property. With over 4000 members and $9M in funding raised to support scientific research, VitaDAO has proven that the DeSci movement is no laughing matter.
Check out some of their featured projects here.
2. SCINET
The SCINET platform, which is built on blockchain, enables retail and institutional investors to securely invest in scientific research and technology directly. In addition to funding promising scientific research, they also offer a “blockchain-powered” cloud laboratory for researchers, a rigorous decentralized peer review process, and enable researches to document their IP on an immutable blockchain.
3. AntidoteDAO
AntidoteDAO is a decentralized community focused on funding cancer research and other cancer initiatives. Their ecosystem includes a governance token and NFT collection, which both enable individuals to vote on where to allocate funds. In addition to providing funding to charities supporting cancer research and cancer patients, a core focus of the DAO is on providing $100K seed fund grants to cancer research teams. Research projects are first reviewed by the DAO’s Medical Advisory team, and then put to the community for a vote.
Fun fact, we have an upcoming podcast episode with AntidoteDAO that, when available, will be published HERE.
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4. LabDAO
LabDAO is an emerging organization which is dedicated to operating a community-run network of wet and dry labs with the goal of advancing scientific research and development. A wet lab is one focused on analysing drugs, chemicals, and other biological matter, whereas a dry lab is one focused on applied or computational mathematical analysis. LabDAO is a relatively new project that is still in its infancy but has a promising mission and strong community of support around it.
5. Molecule
Molecule is a decentralized scientific research funding platform that operates as a marketplace for researchers seeking out funding and individuals looking to invest in scientific research projects. They are “connecting leading researchers to funding by turning intellectual property and its development into a liquid and easily investable asset.”
Researchers can list their research projects on the Molecule marketplace as a means to engage with potential investors and to secure funding for their project. Molecule currently has over 250 research projects listed on their marketplace, over 4500 DAO community members, and 3 “Bio DAOs” with over $10M in funding in their network. According to Molecule, “The future of life science research will be driven by open, liquid markets for intellectual property powered by web3 technology.”
We cover more amazing DeSci projects in our more recent post:
Ten more DeSci projects disrupting scientific research, development, and knowledge sharing
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