What Is DeSci?

Idea, theory, experiment, analysis, conclusion. The approach to scientific research hasn’t changed much in the last few centuries. Since Francis Bacon popularized the scientific method in the 16th century (and even Aristotle before), we’ve mostly explored this basic methodology. And – to be honest – if you scientific method-ed the scientific method, it’s a pretty proof-positive approach to scientific knowledge.

But while the scientific method hasn’t changed much, the world certainly has. You’d think in our AI-marching, Web 3.0-to-4.0 age of post-metamodernism(?) that modern science now moves faster than the satellites streaming the exosphere, but you’d be wrong. Although we have a digital toolkit that grows exponentially more powerful with each passing hour, scientific advancements continue to snail-mail into our waiting-to-benefit lives. 

While there are contributors to this dial-up speed latency, knowledge silos – in particular, and by design – often drop the entire connection. Knowledge silos form when an institution hoards scientific data for profit. Patents and protectionism are standard pillars of a free market, but society suffers when these par-course practices slow (or actively prevent) innovation.

Diagnosing the Problems in Medical Research

Bad actors within the healthcare industry (the often-heavy thumb of academia) and big pharma, (writ large) love the money-making machine of their own design. They love silos. Silos and a lack of transparency allow them to “catch and kill” innovation, dictate research funding, limit research, and as bleak as it sounds, yes, keep us sorta sick. Bayer bought Monsanto, right?

We’re not totally aluminum-hat wearers though. Admittedly, the dark side of the healthcare industry is an extreme example, which is exactly why many – but not all – DeSci-affiliated organizations work in medical science. And to be perfectly clear, there are plenty of wonderful institutions in healthcare, pharma, and academia. There are also a lot of passionate physicians, researchers, and scientists trapped in a morally opaque situation. 

It’s not the people or even the institutions to blame. It’s the antiquated methods of sharing research data, a profit-over-person mentality, and the unfair annexing of intellectual property that has painted everyone into a corner. And that’s where DeSci can help.

Decentralized Science: Progress Over Protectionism

The DeSci movement shifts away from traditional science (and its hierarchical structures) toward more open, collaborative, and transparent approaches to scientific inquiry. It’s a Web 3.0-born movement with a goal of distributing scientific research, data, and decision-making authority across a network of diverse participants – rather than relying solely on centralized institutions. At its core, decentralized science aims to democratize access to knowledge, promote inclusivity, and foster collaboration to accelerate scientific progress.

DeSci can help facilitate data and research transparency among clinicians and researchers (instead of creating silos), preserve the intellectual property of researchers (versus giving intellectual property rights to stakeholders to profiteer, supplanting innovation and health for money). It also has the potential to make the peer review process more transparent and fundraise through tokenization within a passionate Web3 ecosystem.

Core Principles of Decentralized Science

• Open Access

Decentralized science advocates for open access to research findings, data, and methodologies, allowing for greater transparency and reproducibility.

• Collaboration

DeSci projects encourage collaboration among researchers, institutions, and even citizen scientists across geographical and disciplinary boundaries.

• Peer-to-Peer Networks

Utilizing blockchain technology and peer-to-peer networks, decentralized science enables secure and verifiable data and research transactions.

• Community Governance

Decentralized platforms often implement community-driven governance models, or decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). These empower participants to collectively make decisions about research priorities, funding allocation, and project direction.

Key Benefits of DeSci

• Democratized Access

By removing barriers to entry, decentralized science facilitates broader participation in research, particularly among underrepresented communities and developing regions.

• Accelerated Innovation

The collaborative nature of decentralized science fosters interdisciplinary interactions and knowledge exchange, leading to faster innovation and breakthrough discoveries.

• Enhanced Trust and Transparency

Transparent protocols and decentralized data storage mechanisms bolster trust among researchers and the public, mitigating issues of data integrity or bias.

• Resilience and Sustainability

Distributed networks are inherently more resilient to disruptions and censorship, ensuring the continuity of scientific progress even in challenging environments.

Through its ethos and design, DeSci has the power to democratize knowledge and address complex challenges, from treating rare diseases to growing healthier tomatoes. By harnessing and sharing data within a collaborative scientific community, or even between scientific fields, DeSci can help us better understand the problems we face while revolutionizing the scientific process of how we face them. 

Important projects are happening right now within DeSci frameworks. With each use case, these projects offer a glimpse into the future of the scientific research process. In other words, to answer the question “What is DeSci,” there’s growing empirical evidence that it’s the future of scientific research.

DeSci is an idea currently undergoing experimentation and analysis. But so far, DeSci organizations like AxonDAO, Data Link, and Research Hub – as well as independent researchers, crypto investors, and open-minded institutions – are starting to draw exciting conclusions about the movement’s potential.