DeSci: A New Opportunity for Empowering Scientific Research with Web3.0

Source: Jishi Communication

Abstract

The allocation of traditional scientific research funds is often controlled by small, closed, centralized groups, which have certain restrictions in terms of regulation and efficiency, which will further affect the efficiency of scientific research results and the exploration of value potential. In response to these issues, the industry has recently given rise to the Decentralized Science (DeSci) movement, which aims to use Web 3.0 systems to build a public infrastructure for funding, creating, regulating, validating, storing, and disseminating scientific knowledge fairly and equitably. In the simplest terms, DeSci provides a more Web3.0 thinking solution for scientific research fundraising, supervision, review, research promotion and timely decision-making. Completely different from the operation mode of traditional scientific research, users in the Web 3.0 world have become the promoters of scientific research, and the market has become the core driving force. This is a new outlet for the industry. Of course, as a new thing, the risks of DeSci are also obvious, such as data fraud in the scientific research process, platform security, and other risks from the outside (such as external attacks) will have an immeasurable impact on the quality of scientific research, risk spillover, etc.

Pumpscience promotes longevity research and represents the recent rise of the DeSci industry. Currently, Pumpscience enables anyone to conduct a longevity experimental study, providing an idea of an intervention (drug, or multiple drugs) to be tested, as well as token incentives based on the Solana platform. Drug developers can raise money for experiments, and others can bet on which intervention will extend the lifespan of the different model organisms being tested. To fund an experiment for a particular intervention, drug developers have launched a token that represents a portion of the rights to a mixture of drugs that can be sold to pay for the experiment. The rights to the interventions developed on the platform can be authorized, and these interventions can be sold by chemical suppliers as supplements or research chemicals. All projects on Pumpscience are decentralized from launch to implementation, and DeSci's model is structured at all stages, and at each stage: funding preparation, decision-making, regulation, and market operations are driven by the role of the cryptocurrency market, and are carried out in a fully developed and decentralized manner.

The core of Pumpscience is the driving force of the cryptocurrency market, which uses market forces to fully tap the market value of each link and promote the rapid development of scientific research in terms of funding (and funding threshold), creativity, regulation and decision-making. For example, compounds can be formulated into a final product at any stage of the research process (if the company in question wishes to do so). This is also very imaginative, and we can be open to thinking: in the process of scientific research experiments in biological sciences and even in other fields, some intermediate data and products will also have a certain application market, for example, although the chemical is not the ultimate ideal target, it may be the compound (catalyst or other intermediate products required for production) required by other manufacturers. Relevant companies can buy tokens in the token market, pushing up the price as a means of intervention, providing a milestone basis for a possible effective product in the next stage. At the same time, it is possible to buy out the relevant product production/sales authorization. Although this is not the ultimate goal of the experiment, the market value of its intermediate process is well unleashed.

It can be said that DeSci has decentralized the structure of every step from the creativity/leadership of scientific research, the promotion process (as well as decision-making at various stages), to the regulation of industrial transformation. This flywheel model will undoubtedly fully unleash the efficiency and energy of Web3.0.

Risk warning: The research and development of blockchain technology is not as expected; uncertainty of regulatory policies; the implementation of Web3.0 business models is not as expected.

1**. Core Viewpoints**

The allocation of traditional research funding is often controlled by small, closed centralized groups, which have certain limitations in terms of regulation and efficiency, thereby further affecting the efficiency of research output and the potential for value discovery. Of course, these groups have a significant influence in processes including related intellectual property transfer and productization, and this influence can sometimes suppress the efficiency of research output. In response to these issues, the decentralized science movement, (DeSci), has recently emerged in the industry, aiming to build public infrastructure using Web3.0 systems for the fair and equal funding, creation, regulation, confirmation, storage, and dissemination of scientific knowledge. Unlike the decentralized crowdfunding of a few years ago, DeSci possesses considerable openness in terms of funding, creativity, research ideas, and even market support, embodying a more Web3.0 mindset that fully taps into research efficiency and output, while sharing rights with the dispersed Web3.0 ecosystem users.

Of course, as a new phenomenon, the risks of DeSci are also evident, such as issues like data falsification in the research process, platform security, and other external risks (such as external attacks) that can have immeasurable impacts on research quality, risk spillover, and other aspects.

This article introduces the operational model of typical representative projects in DeSci and analyzes their development potential.

2. DeSci: Empowering Scientific Research with Web3.0

Decentralized Science (DeSci) is a movement aimed at building public infrastructure for the fair and equal funding, creation, regulation, confirmation, storage, and dissemination of scientific knowledge using Web3.0. In simplest terms, DeSci provides a Web3.0-based solution for fundraising in scientific research (as well as regulation, auditing, and various forms of support), meaning that Web3.0 becomes a new accelerator for scientific research. Completely different from the operating model of traditional scientific research, users in the Web3.0 world become the drivers of scientific research, and this is done in a decentralized manner.

2.1 Progress of DeSci Compared to GitCoin: Fully Decentralized Structural Project Process

Gticoin is a decentralized collaboration platform built on Ethereum, providing developers with a collaborative development platform while offering investors a donation platform (cryptocurrency donations). It can be simply understood as a crowdfunding and sharing platform for project codes and funds. Project token airdrops are given to funders as rewards, and this financing method is very much in the style of Web 3.0, representing an early decentralized financing and incubation model.

During the implementation of the funding program, projects require not just one-time funding, but a series of financing rounds arranged according to different stages of project development. A single round of financing can spark the interest of funders, but a coordinated multi-round financing strategy is essential for establishing sustained engagement and attracting long-term builders. By prioritizing financing rounds based on established goals (milestone achievements), projects can attract a steady stream of funders and co-builders while continuously adapting to changing needs.

Taking the Sei project as an example, Sei aims to combine the development standards of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with the performance of Solana, allowing ecological applications to flexibly scale between the two public chains. Depending on the different stages of development, Sei has planned four rounds of financing, raising a total of 1.3 million dollars allocated to various projects within the Sei ecosystem during these rounds. The TVL (Total Value Locked) of the Sei ecosystem experienced significant growth between July and October, more than doubling to over 200 million dollars. During this period, the number of active users surged, peaking at around 65,000 per day.

It is clear that GitCoin is an earlier Web3.0 decentralized crowdfunding platform that primarily addresses the personalized financing needs of projects at different stages, and it provides a more decentralized and market-oriented way of linking financing needs with funding supply in a decentralized manner. In contrast, DeSci not only provides early support for scientific research (projects) in terms of funding, but also decentralizes various aspects such as project (research) content, creativity, and decision-making, rather than being limited to crowdfunding for just funding. This represents an innovation more aligned with Web3.0 thinking. Additionally, in terms of the openness of development potential, the scientific research supported by DeSci has broader commercialization potential, which is also a prominent feature of this innovation.

In the analysis that follows, we will see that DeSci essentially decentralizes the structure of research project processes.

2.2 DeSci: A Comprehensive Deconstruction of the Research Process

DeSci aims to create an ecosystem that incentivizes scientists to openly share their research and, as a result, receive recognition and rewards, while also allowing anyone to easily understand and contribute to research. This is significantly different from traditional scientific research, where funding allocation is often controlled by small, closed centralized groups that have certain limitations in terms of regulation and efficiency, which further impacts the efficiency of research output and the potential value discovery. Of course, these groups hold considerable influence in processes including relevant intellectual property transfers and commercialization, and this influence can sometimes inhibit the efficiency of research output. To address these issues, DeSci is attempting to create a more decentralized and transparent scientific research model by decentralizing funding acquisition, scientific tools, and communication channels, creating an environment where new and non-traditional ideas can thrive. Clearly, in the DeSci model, Web3.0 users will deconstruct the traditional powers of funding bodies, regulators, and even experimental operators in scientific research, making the entire process from initiating research experiments to product deployment more developed and possessing different potential.

DeSci has become a recent rising trend, represented by the Pumpscience platform. Currently, Pumpscience allows anyone to conduct longevity experimental research by providing an idea for an intervention (drug or multiple drugs) to be tested, along with token incentives based on the Solana platform. Drug developers can raise funds for experiments, and others can bet on which intervention will extend the lifespan of different model organisms being tested. To fund the experiments for a specific intervention, drug developers launch a token that represents partial rights to the drug mixture, which can be sold to cover experimental costs. The rights to interventions developed on the platform can be licensed, and these interventions can be sold by chemical suppliers as supplements or research chemicals. All experimental tests on Pumpscience (currently) aim to extend lifespan. The entire process from project initiation to implementation is decentralized, with the DeSci model structured at various stages, where funding preparation, decision-making, regulation, and market operations are driven by the role of the cryptocurrency market, developed and executed in a fully decentralized manner.

The specific workflow of Pumpscience includes:

1. The drug developer submits intervention measures for testing and pays X dollars in SOL to cover the experimental costs.

2. Issue tokens on pump.fun and use the raised funds to purchase the first batch of tokens:

3. If the market value of the token reaches a certain threshold, the token will be automatically sold to fund the experimental development of new phases.

4. These interventions were tested on the nematode ( C elegans ) on Ora Biomedical's Wormbot, and on flies on Tracked Biotechnologies' FlyBox, with more experiments planned for the future.

5. Data is transmitted to users at fixed time intervals, allowing users to assess the effectiveness and value of the interventions.

6. Chemical suppliers can purchase the right to intervene from token holders.

On a practical operational level, Pumpscience's existing research projects design DeSci as a "game" aimed at identifying chemical substances that extend human lifespan in the most time-efficient and cost-effective manner. To quickly and economically generate meaningful high-quality data, Pumpscience first tests on model organisms with shorter lifespans and lower experimental costs, establishing evidence in simpler organisms before moving on to more complex and costly organisms. Including three levels:

1. Worms: Let's start with worms, which are small nematodes about the size of an eyelash. Worms have a lifespan of only 20-30 days in the laboratory, so the effects of potential lifespan-extending chemicals can be quickly observed using worms. High-quality drug screening for worms costs about $300-500.

2. Fruit Flies: Next, tests will be conducted on fruit flies, which can survive for about 3 months in the laboratory. The cost of cultivating fruit flies is relatively low (about 2-3 thousand dollars per experiment), and they provide more complex biological insights than nematodes. Although they do not have a spinal cord, their low cost and fast life cycle make them an ideal experimental subject.

3. Mice: Promising chemical drugs will then enter the mouse testing phase. The lifespan of mice is about 2-3 years, and the experimental cost ranges from $30,000 to $60,000, depending on the environmental setup. Due to the longer lifespan and higher costs, only the most promising candidate drugs can enter this phase, where more expensive, time-consuming, but more human-relevant data can be collected.

To fund the game, Pumpscience proposed a fundraising protocol based on a cryptocurrency platform. This protocol will allow for the raising and allocation of funds for each intervention, ensuring that only the most promising interventions can progress. Through transparent and decentralized funding, donors can directly support the development of chemicals that may extend human lifespan in the future.

When researchers (developers) submit new interventions, participants purchase tokens linked to their interventions on the platform. This financing across different stages is based on cryptocurrency market capitalization milestones: as the token's market value grows, tokens will be sold at key milestones to pay for increasingly advanced testing costs:

1. Worm: Sold $500 worth of tokens when the market capitalization of the token was $70,000;

2. Fly: Sell $2,500 worth of tokens when the market cap reaches $1 million.

3. Mouse: Sell $20,000 worth of tokens when the market cap reaches $3 million.

Anyone can submit tests for the corresponding compounds for less than $100 without permission. Keeping costs low and removing barriers to entry for potentially valuable products to enter the market will further increase the number of submitted ideas. The more ideas submitted, the more likely it is that these ideas will lead to valuable products that extend healthy lifespans.

The longevity experiment with flies involves feeding a compound or placebo control to a tube of flies (approximately 15 flies per tube). The flies receiving the compound are placed in one tube, while the flies receiving the placebo are placed in another tube. Your goal is to predict whether the compound will make the flies live longer than those receiving the control. To predict this, you must monitor the flies, which will be uploaded to Pumpscience when recorded. You can view the flies in the test tubes. The flies in each tube either receive the compound or the control, the latter of which is labeled at the top of the tube.

At the end of the experiment, there will be a final score: Percentage Life Extension (PLE). This indicates how much longer the lifespan of animals taking the drug is compared to the control group. The goal of the game is to find more compounds that can increase the PLE of all test organisms. Once the experiment is completed, if the market value of the compound tokens reaches the next milestone threshold, the next experiment will be funded and executed.

Pumpscience's future development plan is to launch more research testing content, business plans, and even the introduction of AI agents. Currently, there has been no substantial progress in this area, but the deconstruction and innovation brought by Web 3.0 are expected to yield more interesting results.

The above game seems to be complex and interesting, but the core is that the cryptocurrency market is the driving force at the core, using market forces in terms of funding (and funding thresholds), creativity, regulation and decision-making, fully mining the market value of each link and promoting the rapid development of scientific research. For example, compounds can be formulated into a final product at any stage of the research process (if the company in question wishes to do so). This is also very imaginative, and we can be open to thinking: in the process of scientific research experiments in biological sciences and even in other fields, some intermediate data and products will also have a certain application market, for example, although the chemical is not the ultimate ideal target, it may be the compound (catalyst or other intermediate products required for production) required by other manufacturers. Relevant companies can buy tokens in the token market, pushing up the price as a means of intervention, providing a milestone basis for a possible effective product in the next stage. At the same time, it is possible to buy out the relevant product production/sales authorization. Although this is not the ultimate goal of the experiment, the market value of its intermediate process is well unleashed.

It can be said that DeSci has decentralized the structure of every step from the creativity/leadership of scientific research, the promotion process (as well as decision-making at various stages), to the regulatory aspects of industrial transformation. This flywheel model will undoubtedly fully unleash the efficiency and energy of Web 3.0.

Risk Warning

Blockchain technology research and development fell short of expectations: The blockchain-related technologies and projects underlying Bitcoin are in the early stages of development, posing risks of research and development not meeting expectations.

Regulatory policy uncertainty: The actual operation of blockchain and Web3.0 projects involves multiple financial, internet, and other regulatory policies. Currently, regulatory policies in various countries are still in the research and exploration stage, and there is no mature regulatory model, so the industry faces the risk of regulatory policy uncertainty.

The implementation of Web3.0 business models is below expectations: The infrastructure and projects related to Web3.0 are in the early stages of development, posing risks of business models not materializing as anticipated.

This article is an excerpt from the report "DeSci: The New Opportunity for Scientific Research Empowered by Web 3.0" published on November 28, 2024. For specific content, please refer to the relevant report.