Decentralized Science: A Comparative Study of Existing Platforms and Their Applications (Part One)
Your journey with us into the world of decentralized science started with an explanation of the whole concept of decentralized science. We want to take this journey a step further and show you the varieties of Decentralized Science (DeSci) platforms and their existing applications.
One goal that Decentralized Science platforms aim for is the provision of public good. Let’s look into that a bit before moving forward.
Science as we know it aims to advance man and therefore, research is made around man’s life and how it can get better. The information gained from this research is what is used to contribute to the advancement of mankind. You can agree with us that since this information is of importance, it should be made readily available to everyone who will need it and when they need it without excessive payment and any form of restriction.
A public good, either a product or service is one that simply is non-excludable and non-depletable in the sense that it is made available to everyone and a person’s access to it does not affect another person’s access to it. Seeing this, you would expect research knowledge to be a public good.
Uhmmmm, partially…
This is because centralized agencies associated with research have made it a private good and you can only have access to it only when you’re ready to haemorrhage your pocket. Now that we’ve established the foundation of understanding a public good, we will now see the platforms which Decentralized Science provides with which we can make research a public good and enhance growth and collaboration in science.
This article is divided into two. In this article, we are going to walk you through platforms that are in the fields of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Arts & NFTs.
Ready for this journey? Let’s get right into it then!
Decentralized Science Platforms in the Field of DAOs
Before we go on, you might be wondering what Decentralized Autonomous Organizations are right? In summary, DAO is a system built to decentralize authority and decision-making.
This makes it different from the one-man or one-group authority you’re used to. In DAOs, management processes are handled by a varying groups of people. So how are DAOs important in decentralized science?
We already talked about its importance to DeSci in our last article so you can read about it here.
Moving forward, let’s go on to the list of DeSci platforms that are actual DAOs.
VitaDAO
VitaDAO with an understanding of the challenges in traditional science came up with the solution of taking the important decisions from the top people in the traditional science field into the hands of the public scientists.
They are centered heavily on funding and intellectual property ownership by scientists. However, they are niched down into Research and Development in the longevity space. Joining VitaDAO, especially if you’re a scientist in the longevity space, opens you to funding opportunities for your research works and also helps you preserve the originality of your research.
One good thing about this is, you don’t need to be afraid that your research won’t get funding because you haven’t written many papers. Funding is dependent on the quality of your research. It also intends to raise longevity awareness through scientific and general public publication activities.
They have quite several projects that they have funded and recently, they announced that they raised $4.1 million for scientific grants.
AthenaDAO
If you’re a lover of women’s health and want to be a die-hard contributor to the field, the AthenaDAO is a good DeSci platform to start. AthenaDAO is a decentralized network of academics, funders, and activists aiming to enhance research, education, and funding for women’s health.
AthenaDAO primarily sponsors translational research and development. Joining the AthenaDAO community allows you to get your research works in women’s health funded and also presents you with opportunities that improve your knowledge in the field. Think of it as your go-to place regarding women’s health whether in the form of education, funding, etc.
They also plan to support more “basic” research, which will be vital to advancing science. Join them to learn about the most recent research, meet some of the field’s experts and champions, and get passionate about creating a future with better health outcomes for women.
Future Foods DAO
You’re probably rolling your eyes now and maybe wondering if these DeSci platforms are only interested in the health field. Well, fortunately, you’re wrong. Future Foods DAO is just the right DeSci platform for you if you’re a foodie and believe that you can contribute one or two to the food space, especially proteins.
You’re not just limited to funding when you join the DAO, you’ll also have access to research resources whether knowledge-wise or even laboratory resources. Excited about this one? Then hop onto their website and explore.
Science DAO
Are you a fan of variety and wondering what DAO suits your taste for varieties? Science DAO is just the right place for you. It spans the fields of Natural Science, Computing & Technology, and Health & Environment.
Joining ScienceDAO puts you in a place to get your research funded and also access like-minded individuals that could guide you during your ideation and research process.
LabDAO
You might be wondering what happens next if my research project gets funded. How will I access tools that I can use to explore my research idea and get some findings? LabDAO got you covered in this aspect. Yes, it’s possible.
And LabDAO doesn’t just give you access to research tools, the community eases the process of getting your research funded and even allows you to collaborate with community members on research projects. You’re not even limited by age or career stage. All you need is a good research idea in any field and you’re good to go!
So there you have it! You now know the DeSci community platforms that would guide you in your journey of being a researcher in decentralized science.
But we are not done. If you’re in the Arts field, let’s show you the DeSci platforms just for you.
FrontierDAO
FrontierDAO is a scientific and engineering research and development DAO that seeks to incubate promising innovation in its key areas of fusion energy, space exploration, and climate solutions. The ultimate objective is to speed up the commercialization of the most promising inventions.
They fundraise through membership and their NFT collection, which is available on OpenSea. Their NFT collections include IP-NFTs, which are the cornerstone of their scientific publishing platform, FrontierRegistry.
FrontierRegistry is an open publishing platform for scientists, academicians, engineers, and researchers who may self-publish and mint their research papers as NFTs. FrontierRegistry is a platform that is entirely owned by its users. You can read their whitepaper here.
Decentralized Science Platforms in Arts & NFTs
There’s this one sweet thing about NFTs. It helps to conserve ideas. That is, even though it doesn’t exist in real life anymore, it doesn’t go extinct entirely. Ideas minted into NFTs stay in existence forever on the blockchain. These ideas could be real-world objects like art, music, and even research documents.
If you’re someone that has several ideas that you would love to continuously stay in existence, then minting them into NFTs could be your best shot. So where do you begin?
GeneNFT
Just like how the DAOs we listed had specialities, DeSci platforms in NFTs also have specializations. One of them is GeneNFT. To contribute to GeneNFT, you need to mint actual proteins in human genes into NFTs.
A bonus is, you’re not just minting NFTs for minting sake, you could also sell these NFTs and make money from the royalties. GeneNFT helps you with these sales and many more benefits.
Plant Gang
Are you a lover of plants and wondered what it’s like to contribute to a virtual herbarium? Well, you’ve just found yourself a Plant Gang. Plant Gang is driven by the purpose of breaking the barriers of access to plant specimens by immortalizing these specimens on blockchain in form of NFTs.
As a researcher interested in botany, this is a good catch for you to explore different plant specimens and mint them into NFTs while associating them with Plant Gang.
SpinalCord NFT
Fortunately, NFTs are not just limited to Art students. Driven by the purpose of spinal cord research, SpinalCord NFT creates a platform that encourages researchers and scientists in these fields to mint NFTs and sells them to get royalties to fund their research whether in the form of paperwork or in the form of testing therapeutics and devices during clinical trials.
So yes! We are done with the DeSci platforms that are actual DAOs and into the field of Arts & NFTs. In our next article, you’ll get to know about DeSci platforms that handle Publishing and Data Storage.
You’re on your way to being that five-star Scientist😍
Ultra Rare
Ultra Rare is a web3 collaboration that investigates the relationship between art and science. The team consists of scientists, programmers, and artists and they are passionate about sharing science through audio and video.
They have a podcast called UltraRare The Podcast to assist individuals to get started in the web3 realm.
DNAverse
DNAverse is a collection of NFT projects that have been modified with real DNA data. The long-term goal is to geneticize avatars in the metaverse and replicate life in the digital world using a self-sustaining decentralized paradigm.
Conclusion
Finally, you’ve followed us through this article and we are glad you’ve come this far. We tried to cover as many DeSci platforms that are DAOs and in the field of Arts & NFTs so that we won’t be leaving you out.
However, if you feel like your field of research wasn’t covered in this article, please indicate your field in the comment section and we would guide you immediately. Also, if one of the platforms we mentioned caught your interest, let us know in the comments too so we’ll show you the next step to take to be that rock star scientist you want to be.
Cheers!
