How blockchain technology is revolutionizing science

In the natural sciences in particular, there are examples of how essential scientific knowledge and developments are for the technological and intellectual progress of our society. For example, the discovery of antibiotics (e.g. penicillin), the birth control pill and modern therapies that mRNA based (e.g. COVID-19 vaccines). Although these technologies were developed at publicly funded institutions (e.g. university research institutes), they were commercialized almost exclusively by private companies (e.g. pharmaceutical companies). This is exactly what a branch of blockchain technology wants to change: DeSci.

DeSci: Revolution of science thanks to DLT

Under the term Decentralized Science – DeSci for short – a new movement in the field of decentrally organized and Internet-based science has formed in recent years. DeSci can be understood as an extension of the open science concept, in which the focus is on open access to research results and findings and new opportunities for collaboration can arise (e.g. between the scientific community and citizens). One of the main differences to open science is the use of blockchain technology and the associated possibilities, such as smart contracts, (governance) tokens and NFTs. Decentralized autonomous organizations – DAOs for short – also play a decisive role here. They can be defined as communities with a central goal, using smart contracts to automate certain (trans)actions and using governance tokens for decentralized decision-making.

In the realm of science, DAOs can enable a new form of research communication, funding and coordination. Based on a similar movement in the field of finance (Decentralized Finance – DeFi), which aims to use blockchain technology, among other things, to improve the financial world in the long term (e.g. to reduce dependence on intermediaries such as banks), the DeSci movement, the scientific research landscape and practice will be fundamentally decentralized to give society more access. The DeSci ecosystem now includes over 50 different projects, especially so-called DeSci-DAOs, of which fortunately many initiators, founders and projects come from or are based in German-speaking countries. In the further course of the article we will present a selection of these projects in the DeSci area:

1. Molecule (molecule.to)

Molecule can be viewed as a protocol, marketplace and DeSci incubator aiming to enable decentralized research and funding. The focus is also on an active and interdisciplinary participation not only of the researchers but also of the patients. Molecule was instrumental in the development of so-called “IP-NFTs” to enable tokenization of intellectual property (e.g. research results). With the further development of so-called “decentralized intellectual property (DIP) tokens”, Molecule has also created the possibility to functionalize IP-NFTs to enable broader participation and governance. Molecule’s team has also contributed to the creation of VitaDAO and many other BioDAOs or DeSci-DAOs that support researchers and research projects with funding and research. To advance decentralized drug development and research, Molecule has received approximately $20 million in funding to date.

2. VitaDAO (vitadao.com)

Founded in 2021, VitaDAO is widely cited not only as the first DeSci DAO, but also as the most advanced and established DAO in the DeSci space. VitaDAO aims to extend human health and lifespan by supporting and funding research focused on age-related diseases. As part of this mission, VitaDAO brings together more than 10,000 researchers, patients, enthusiasts and funders who work together to find the best translational science projects in longevity research, fund their development and bring them to market. With more than $10 million in funding, including from traditional pharmaceutical companies, VitaDAO has funded more than 15 projects and hundreds of scholarships and grants.

3. LabDAO (labdao.xyz)

LabDAO is a decentralized and internet-based research collective in the field of biology and life sciences, which focuses on computational biology (eg relevant to the modeling of protein structures). The team and community behind LabDAO has set itself the goal of “PLEX” to enable an open and fair internet-based exchange of services in the field of computational biology. PLEX enables scientists to use the latest tools in computational biology and create so-called “research data artifacts” that enable the tracking of scientific research results and findings. With $3.6 million in funding to date, LabDAO is working to enable decentralized, internet-based and inclusive research.

4. Bloxberg (bloxberg.org)

Bloxberg is a global blockchain infrastructure created by a consortium of researchers and organizations to provide decentralized services to the scientific community and encourage collaboration. With a global network of more than 50 universities and research institutions worldwide, including renowned institutions such as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and the ETH Zurich, bloxberg strives for a decentralized organization of scientific data enable and promote.

DeSci: Final thoughts

While the field of decentralized finance (DeFi) can now be considered to be comparatively established, the domain of decentralized science (DeSci) is still in the early stages of its revolutionary importance. Sometimes characterized by limited visibility and recognition. It should be emphasized that, despite a latent dissatisfaction with the existing paradigms of the research system, scientists from the classical natural sciences in particular have so far been hesitant when it comes to using the infrastructure that has already been established and the resulting potential. This hesitation is not only due to the fact that the mechanisms of DeSci have not yet sufficiently penetrated the consciousness of these disciplines, but also to the inherent skepticism towards new paradigms and technologies.

Although there is a partial openness to change due to various practices, the use of Open Science principles is becoming increasingly popular. These principles ultimately open up access to the Web3 world and thus to the possibilities of DeSci for all sciences. Unfortunately, state research funding institutions have not yet taken any substantial steps towards DeSci. There may be a variety of reasons for this reluctance to date, but at the same time it represents a gap in opportunities that needs to be addressed.

However, it is hard to deny that the promising potentials of more open, accessible and equitable science could ultimately ignite an unstoppable march towards a redesign of the research system. The attention that projects like Molecule, VitaDAO, LabDAO or bloxberg are attracting gives hope for future recognition and integration of DeSci into the scientific community. It remains to be seen how the interaction between the social science considerations, philosophical contemplations and the forming figures of DeSci will shape the future of scientific progress.

Over

Lukas Weidener wrote the above article together with Bence Lukács, Benjamin Heurich and Boris J. Nachtsheim from the Federal Block Science Working Group. She deals with the changes in research and science caused by blockchain technology, decentralization and open science. More on this here.