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Hello World!

About a year ago, I discovered decentralized science (DeSci) while surfing “Web3” through a scientific correspondence note from Sarah Hamburg to the Nature publishing group entitled: Call to join the decentralized science movement; and yes, the paper was/is not available, you have to pay a fee of $32 USD (ironically) to the publisher to access the content. By fortune, is totally free on her Researchgate profile.

The note is a brief comment of ~177 words and encourages scientists and researchers to become part of a community that is leveraging new technologies (eg. “Web3” tools) to tackle challenges in research and contribute their skills to the development of the DeSci movement.

I decided to create my first deep dive into the essentials of this marvelous crypto ecosystem that has been building on the Open Science movement. This essay will be divided into five brief sections:

I. What is Decentralized science (DeSci)?
II. Traditional Science vs Decentralized Science
III. The Epitome of organization and coordination in Science: DAO’s
IV. LandScape of Desci
V. Concluding remarks

I. What is Decentralized science (DeSci)?

Decentralized science (DeSci), is a movement that seeks to use decentralized technology, such as blockchain, to create a more open and equitable system for conducting and sharing scientific research. This involves using decentralized infrastructures to fund, create, review, credit, store, and distribute scientific knowledge in a way that is equal and fair. Its goal is to create a more transparent and democratic system for science, one that is less influenced by factors such as bias, power dynamics, and commercial interests. DeSci is part of a broader trend in the scientific community to revolutionize the way research is funded and knowledge is shared, as well as an evolution within the crypto ecosystem to shift ownership and value away from intermediaries.

II. Traditional Science vs Decentralized Science

Traditional science (TradSci) refers to the way in which scientific research has typically been conducted and organized. In the traditional model, scientific research is often funded by governments, institutions, or private companies, and is carried out by professional scientists working in universities, research labs, and other organizations. The results of scientific research are typically published in academic journals, which are peer-reviewed to ensure the quality and validity of the research. Traditional science also involves the creation of scientific knowledge through the scientific method, which involves forming hypotheses, conducting experiments, and analyzing data to test these hypotheses and generate new knowledge. Overall, traditional science is a systematic and rigorous approach to studying the natural world and advancing our understanding of it.

III. The epitome of organization and coordination in Science: DAOs

A DeSci Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), is a type of organization that is based on decentralized systems, such as blockchain and is designed to support the conduct and dissemination of scientific research. It is intended to be open, transparent, and democratic, enabling a wide range of people to participate in and contribute to the scientific process.

A DeSci DAO typically uses a blockchain-based platform to facilitate the funding, creation, review, and dissemination of scientific research. This can include the use of smart contracts to automate specific processes, such as the allocation of funds for research projects or the review and publication of research papers. It may also use other decentralized technologies, such as decentralized storage systems, to store and organize research data and other scientific knowledge.

Overall, DeSci DAOs are a new type of organization that seeks to create a more transparent, equitable, and democratic system for conducting and sharing scientific research. Using decentralized technology, can facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing among a wide range of people and organizations and can help to overcome some of the limitations and challenges of traditional science.

Ding, et al., (2022) proposed six layer framework for “Web3” DeSci DAOs, which I will summarize next:

a) Protocol Level: includes the specific blockchain technology and smart contract platform that the DeSci DAO is built on, plus any supplementary guidelines that the organization has put in place (e.g. data layer, network layer, among others).

b) Governance Level: refers to the ways in which the organization is managed and decisions are made. Contains the systems and procedures that are used for decision-making, like holding elections or using smart contracts to automatically enforce agreements. The governance level may also comprise supplementary guidelines that have been put in place to guide the decision-making process and guarantee that the DeSci DAO operates in a fair and transparent manner (e.g. governance framework, governance strategy, and types of voting, among others).

c) Incentive Level: describes the ways in which the organization encourages and compensates its members for helping the organization and reaching its objectives. This level may involve the use of tokens (e.g. NFTs, SBTs), or other cryptocurrency-based incentives to stimulate participation and motivate members to support the organization. The incentive level may also use other forms of compensation, such as access to exclusive resources or events, to encourage and reward its members, reputation systems, or non-monetary rewards, which are created to contribute to members and motivate them to the success of the organization. Other examples are airdrops, grants, bounties, and staking, among others).

d) Organizational Level: refers to the organization's architecture and design; including the organization's overall goals and mission, the ways in which the organization is managed, and decisions are taken. This includes the overall goals and mission of the organization, the ways in which the organization is managed and decisions are made, the tools and procedures that are available for making choices, and also any extra guidelines and standards that the organization has put in place. This level of a DeSci DAO may also involve the ways in which the organization is financed and the duties and obligations of its members. It is basically, the operating principles of the organization, and acts as the foundation on which the other levels of the DeSci DAO are built (e.g. Foundation + DeSci DAO Community).

e) Operational Level: refers to the organization's regular activities and operations, including the organization's specific assignments and initiatives and also the processes and procedures that are in place for carrying out these. This level may also involve the tools and assets that the organization uses to support its operations (e.g. decentralized autonomous task scheduling and dispatching, and decentralized autonomous verification and validation, among others).

f) Aplicational Level: comprises the potential application scenarios and Web3 apps scenarios and use cases for DeSci. Based on the features and functions it can be divided into two categories: (1) Scientific system (e.g. research, funding, access, scientific development, among others), and (2) Specific apps for scenarios of the system (e.g. bio-techs, journals, climate, among others).

IV. LandScape of Desci

Until October 14, 2022, there were documented 117 projects distributed in 10 categories in the landscape of active projects in DeSci; and are the following:

• DeSci DAOs (26): AthenaDAO, Cherubs DAO, MedDAO, NeuraDAO, CRISPR DAO, NewAtlantis, CryoDAO, NineLivesDAO, CureDAO, OpScientia, DeNature DAO, PsyDAO, FrontierDAO, ReputableDAO, Future Foods DAO, Research Collective, GenomesDAO, ResearchHub DAO, HairDAO, ScienceDAO, Knowan, Silvi, LabDAO, ValleyDAO, LoveHealth, VitaDAO

• Open Science (4): Center for Open Science, DIYBiology, DeepChem, Serratus

• DeSci Ecosystems (8): bio.xyz, DeSci, Gridcoin, SCINET, The Innovation Game, Halogen, ReSci Network, The DeSci Academy

• Biotech & Techbio (11): BioDAO, Open NMN, Fleming Protocol, Perlara PBC, Health X Change, Phage Directory, InnovativeBioresearch, Reserca, Molecule, Vibe Bio, Open Therapeutics

• Arts & NFTs (9): ᗩTOᗰIᑕ ᕼᗴᗩᖇT ᑎᖴT, PlantGang, Dnaverse, SameYou, Spinal Cord NFT, Existential Hope, UltraRare Bio, GENE Scientific art, Gels on ArtBlocks

• Publishing (12): Planck, Ants-Review, sci2sci, Atoms, Scholar, deScier, Scriptus, flashpub, Seeds of Science, PeeryView, TalentDAO, Agora Labs

• Data storage & Protocols (10): Athena Protocol, Kamu, Bacalhau, Ocean Protocol, Ceramic, pRoots, DeTechWorld, Protocol Labs, Habitat Health, Weavechain

• Foundations & Institutes (6): Arc Institute, ArcadiaScience, Convergent Research, Foresight Institute, New Science, Astera Institute

• Financing (14): AntidoteDAO, AxonDAO, BeakerDAO, Crowd Funded Cures, Experiment, GainForest, Gitcoin, Giveth, Impact Finance, Medical.watch, Repro Grants, Science Fund, Sesame Foundation, Viral Cure

• Communities and Chats (17): Blockchain for Science, DeSci Africa, DeSci Berlin, DeSci Boston, DeSci Brazil, DeSci China, DeSci Collective, DeSci Global, DeSci Japan, DeSci LATAM, DeSci London, DeSciWorld, Friendzymes, Just One Giant Lab, Nucleate Dojo, SCRF, Web3 Women in Science

Honorable mentions: DB DAO, Researchain, EncrypGen, DeSciReport, Abakhus, ReFiDAO, Toucan, KLIMA DAO, DeSci Italia, Ethichub, CryptoAltruism, to list a few…

As you see, there is a crypto ecological guild that is thriving.

V. Concluding remarks

It could be argued that DeSci represents a paradigm shift in science, as it seeks to create a more open, transparent, and democratic system for conducting and sharing scientific research. It involves the use of decentralized technology, such as blockchain, to facilitate the funding, creation, review, and dissemination of scientific knowledge, and it seeks to involve a wider range of people in the scientific process. DeSci also challenges some of the assumptions and practices of traditional science, such as the focus on proprietary knowledge and the hierarchical structure of the scientific community.

DeSci would be an extension of existing paradigms in science. It builds on the work of previous scientists and researchers, and it incorporates many of the same principles and practices as traditional science. It may also be seen as part of a broader trend in science, rather than a radical break with the past. Ultimately, whether DeSci is a new paradigm in science will depend on how it is understood and interpreted by the scientific community and the broader public.

DeSci could potentially solve some of the problems that currently exist in traditional science, such as knowledge monopoly, information silos, and other bottleneck effects. As it matures, it could also promote sustainability through the reform of education, management, technology, industrial, and social systems.

However, it is important to mention that DeSci is still a relatively unestablished new and emerging field, and it is still unknown how it will develop and evolve. The extent to which it will be able to cope with the challenges of TradSci and foster broader innovation will depend on a plethora of factors, including the adoption and use of decentralized technologies, the involvement and backing of the scientific community, and the overall societal and political environment. It is also possible that DeSci will encounter its own challenges and limitations, and that it may not be able to completely optimize its potential as a new scientific paradigm. Ultimately, the success and influence of DeSci will be determined by how it is implemented and applied in practice.

DeSci is a new movement in times of the Anthropocene, that has not yet emerged or been fully developed. It is a hypothetical approach to science that emphasizes decentralization and collaboration and seeks to create solutions to sociocultural problems through the use of new tools and technologies (e.g. “Web3”).

I think that one of the main goals DeSci, is to achieve equilibrium and harmony with nature. It could create a gateway to a plethora of knowledge opportunities in all branches of science.

Key References:

Hamburg, S. (2022). A Guide to DeSci, the Latest Web3 Movement. Future/a16z. https://future.com/what-is-decentralized-science-aka-desci/

Ethereum (2022). Decentralized science (DeSci). https://ethereum.org/en/desci/

Ding, W., Hou, J., Li, J., Guo, C., Qin, J., Kozma, R., & Wang, F. Y. (2022). DeSci based on Web3 and DAO: A comprehensive overview and reference model. IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, 9(5), 1563-1573, doi:10.1109/TCSS.2022.3204745

Moreland, K. (2022). DeSci: Modern Science Enabled by Web3 Technology. Ledger Academy. https://www.ledger.com/academy/desci-modern-science-enabled-by-web3-technology

DeSciWorld DAO (2022). Awesome DeSci: A curated list of awesome Decentralized Science (DeSci) resources, projects, articles, and more. Github. https://github.com/DeSciWorldDAO/awesome-desci

Ducrée, J., Codyre, M., Walshe, R., & Barting, S. (2022). DeSci-Decentralized Science. Preprints 2022, 2022050223, doi:10.20944/preprints202205.0223.v1