Author: ian@Foresight Ventures
1. Understanding DeSci —> Questioning DeSci —> Understanding DeSci
1.1 Understanding DeSci
Pain Points:
The lag in infrastructure regarding the maintenance, access, ownership, and revenue distribution of research or knowledge-related IP has always been a pain point, especially in academia.
In the complex field of knowledge sharing and discovery, balancing security, transparency, reward mechanisms, and accessibility has always been an ongoing challenge. Traditional models often rely on centralized verification systems, which may limit inclusivity and widespread participation. Additionally, existing systems may not adequately reward or recognize knowledge contributions, which may impact the development of a comprehensive, collective knowledge base.
Problems addressed:
The central idea facilitating DeSci is that everyone has equal opportunities to access any level of science and knowledge, and the process of scientific research should be open and transparent to all. Therefore, DeSci strives to create an ecosystem where knowledge contributors can be incentivized and share their research, allowing anyone to permissionlessly browse or even iterate on this content.
This creates a distinctly different research system, in which this new model:
The allocation of funds is decided by the public through mechanisms like DAOs, contrasting with traditional science practices controlled by small, closed centralized groups.
The vision of DeSci also promotes dynamic cooperation of various resources globally, to some extent breaking through the cooperation limitations set by centralized institutions in traditional science.
The flow of funds is more transparent, exploring a more efficient economic system under the support of web3, distinctly different from the time-consuming funding decision-making methods in traditional science. At the same time, the incentives of tokens and reputation, as well as the value of peer review, are emphasized more strongly.
Knowledge contributors can transparently allocate the intellectual property they generate, which is different from the situation in traditional science where intellectual property belongs to the affiliated institutions and access paths are opaque. DeSci also encourages sharing all research data, including unsuccessful attempts, to address the publication bias problem in traditional science where only successful experimental results are shared.
1.2 Questioning DeSci
The original intention of DeSci is to establish an ecosystem for scientists or scholars to share academic research and gain ownership of research IP, while for other users, the participation is more about easier access to these academic studies. Essentially, the ivory tower of academia has not been broken, and the core players in this ecosystem are still the top scholars.
In what scenario would an ordinary person care about how to more easily access an academic report?
I'm afraid that apart from burning the midnight oil at university to rush papers, it will be hard to have such demands after graduation. From a certain perspective, we must acknowledge that the ability to contribute valuable academic IP is only in the hands of a few.
However, from the perspective of examining the track and narrative, this is where DeSci's problem lies; it is too pure and noble, making it hard to unleash the true value that web3 can confer, namely community effects and efficient economic systems. Focusing on one point, the foundation of DeSci is not an open knowledge contribution platform but should be an active ecosystem based on an efficient token system and strong community effects. The foundation of this economy relies on widespread user participation; if users cannot truly engage in the gameplay, lacking sufficient motivation to hold and trade tokens, then the price, liquidity, and economic system cannot be sustained.
Therefore, the core players being just scientists clearly doesn't make sense and cannot form a sustainable mechanism.
2. What kind of DeSci makes more sense
2.1 Understanding DeSci
Science =/= Knowledge
Desci should not just be the domain of scientists, but should lower the threshold for the general public to access science. Therefore, it is better to avoid using 'science' and instead emphasize 'knowledge'. Science inherently sets a threshold for DeSci, whereas knowledge can be data of any form or field.
Contributing knowledge in one's professional field or areas of interest is inherently appealing and can easily generate viral effects. Therefore, opening up the landscape of 'science' makes community participation possible and allows web3 to unleash its maximum value.
I believe DeSci should be a pyramid structure that categorizes participants and contributors in the knowledge-sharing full chain into different levels, where each role is indispensable. Scholars, as participants at the top of the pyramid, contribute the most core value of DeSci itself while also bringing breakthrough points to projects. Taking drug development as an example, if DeSci can participate in or facilitate the launch of a certain drug, it would bring immeasurable volume to the track and project. Community users, as participants at the bottom of the pyramid, also have foundational roles, maintaining the efficient operation of the entire ecosystem and economic system.
2.2 Cornerstone of DeSci — BIO
2.2.1 Introduction to BIO
The BIO Protocol is a decentralized scientific financial infrastructure aimed at promoting biotechnological innovation through community collaboration. It provides tools for funding, developing, and governing scientific intellectual property to communities around the globe, including patients, scientists, and biotechnology professionals, to accelerate the commercialization of biotechnological research.
Core functions and operational mechanisms: Support decentralized organizations in biotechnology - BioDAOs
2.2.2 In-depth BIO
1) Technical details
The technology stack and architectural design of Bio Protocol aim to support the tokenization and on-chain governance of biotechnology IP.
By developing a customized public chain, ensure that the technology, development, commercialization, and transaction processes of bio science are transparent, verifiable, and secure while reducing transaction costs.
The IP-Token mechanism is based on SC, where each IP asset has an independent token that defines its ownership and trading rules. Users can obtain partial or full ownership through trading, creating possibilities for circulation and trading in the secondary market while protecting bio science research IP.
Based on a DAO structure, members manage and fund research projects through voting with BIO tokens. Each DAO can gather specialized research fields, such as VitaDAO focusing on longevity research, CryoDAO focusing on cryogenics, etc.
2) Operational Model Analysis
1. BioDAO
BioDAOs are decentralized autonomous organizations within the BIO Protocol ecosystem. Each BioDAO focuses on a specific scientific field, with vitaDAO being the most famous. BioDAOs receive continuous funding, liquidity, and infrastructure support through the BIO Protocol to accelerate research progress and improve project success rates.
Among them, the mother platform BIO Protocol provides BioDAOs with:
Fund: Each BioDAO, after approval, will receive startup funding from the BIO Protocol treasury. This funding helps BioDAOs gain initial capital to support early research projects and expand their influence.
Liquidity support: The BIO Protocol is responsible for providing on-chain liquidity for BioDAOs. This allows BioDAOs to focus on scientific research without worrying about market liquidity management issues. Through liquidity support, the BIO Protocol helps improve the circulation and market value of BioDAOs' tokens.
Governance: The BIO Protocol establishes a meta-governance layer by holding tokens from multiple BioDAOs. BIO token holders can participate in decision-making and governance regarding the operations, funding allocation, and development direction of multiple BioDAOs. This mechanism ensures coordination among BioDAOs in the ecosystem regarding funding flows and research priorities.
IP commercialization: The BIO Protocol helps BioDAOs transform scientific research results into tradable intellectual property assets through its IP tokenization mechanism. This process allows BioDAOs to tokenize the intellectual property of research projects and trade them on-chain, helping research results gain early capital support and realize the market value of intellectual property.
Standardized framework: The BIO Protocol provides a standard framework for the creation and operation of BioDAOs, including token economics design, governance structure, and data management tools. Through a standardized framework and support, the BIO Protocol reduces the difficulty of creating new BioDAOs, allowing them to enter the market faster and operate effectively.
2. Curation
The curation mechanism of the BIO Protocol aims to select and support the most promising BioDAOs to join the BIO ecosystem. Curation is a community-driven process within the BIO community, and through this mechanism, community members can help decide which emerging scientific organizations are worthy of funding support and ecosystem resources.
Curation process
Application submission: New BioDAOs apply to join the BIO ecosystem. The applying BioDAO must have a clear scientific research direction and preliminary governance structure to ensure it can effectively promote its research objectives.
Voting support: BIO token holders can choose to lock their BIO tokens and gain voting rights (vBIO). vBIO holders use these voting rights to vote on candidate BioDAOs to decide whether to support their entry into the ecosystem.
Curation rewards: If a BioDAO's application is successful, the vBIO holders who voted in support of that BioDAO can receive the following rewards:
Voting supporters will gain the opportunity to participate in the whitelist financing of that BioDAO and have priority to invest in the tokens of that BioDAO.
Supporters will receive priority access or discounts for products, data, or services provided by that BioDAO.
Joining the ecosystem: A BioDAO that successfully passes the curation process will receive initial funding and support from the BIO Protocol, while being incorporated into the BIO ecosystem. The BIO Protocol will continue to provide funding, liquidity, and governance support.
3. Reward Mechanism
Bio/Acc rewards are provided in the form of BIO tokens, including the following scenarios:
Initial token auction conducted through the BIO launchpad
Research funding, i.e., the issuance of IP tokens
Sale of IP-related consumer products
Product enters the clinical trial phase
At the same time, rewards can also flow directly to users of BioDAO products:
Participate in clinical trials or self-report health data
Use/purchase products like Follistatin, Vitarna, electronic implants, etc.
4. IP-token
BioDAOs develop and hold ownership of IP tokens. Each BioDAO typically holds a combination of IP tokens related to its specific scientific research field. For instance, VitaDAO develops and owns shares of IPTs like VitaRNA and VITA-FAST.
The operation of IP Tokens: In addition to potential revenue-sharing rights, when obtaining IPTs, IPT holders can benefit from the following aspects:
Governance rights: Participate in key decisions related to the development, management, and licensing of intellectual property.
Priority access: Preferential or discounted access to innovations, collaborations, or future opportunities related to that intellectual property.
2.2.3 Why We Invest in BIO
In the field of scientific research, balancing safety, transparency, and incentives has always lacked solutions. BIO has built the largest DeSci platform to date, ensuring safety and transparency while financializing valuable scientific research. Through numerous community-filtered BIO subnets (e.g., vitaDAO), it commercializes user-generated value and returns profits to users. Therefore, $BIO will continue to capture the value created by all DeSci subnets, making it the most valuable token in the DeSci field. In the long term, the demand for health and longevity will continue to increase, and BIO greatly lowers the barriers to participation and use in related fields, making it a project worth long-term investment.
The product has undergone a long period of accumulation and iteration, with star projects like vitaDAO emerging in the ecosystem, proving the feasibility of the product's operating model and the existence of demand from capital and academia. At the same time, the founding team has strong experience in both research and web3; James is the founder of orangeDAO and was also a founding member of YC19W; Paul is the founder of vitaDAO and molecule, and the team has top-level influence in the DeSci field.
3. More than DeSci
DeSci offers a vision for the industry that is not limited to conducting research or drug discovery. As previously discussed, if the scope of DeSci is confined to science alone, both the value and scalability of this track would be greatly limited. By incorporating the concept of co-building knowledge, where knowledge can be data of any field, dimension, or size, the process of constructing DeSci resembles creating a vast dynamic database.
How to do DeSci + AI?
Furthermore, DeSci should fragment knowledge; rather than DeSci constructing a decentralized research platform, it is more accurate to say that DeSci is creating a system where everyone has the opportunity to participate in co-building knowledge. This approach naturally complements the community attributes of web3, where different data organizations may emerge in the DeSci ecosystem, such as Gym DAO gathering a group of fitness enthusiasts or knowledge holders, and Longivity DAO gathering a group interested in biomedical science, or even bounty task DAOs. For instance, a navigation model needs to take vehicle flow and terrain data from different streets in a region; this data is not very systematic, but it can indeed be collected by retail participants. The users participating in this could be experts or enthusiasts in that field, and under the support of DeSci, any knowledge contributed by anyone has the opportunity to be continuously enriched by other contributors, and DeSci also allows each participant's contributed data to generate value and receive continuous revenue sharing.
The biggest charm here is that everyone's knowledge and data are limited, but it is undeniable that these data hold some value, large or small. Any research conduct needs to start accumulating from the most basic knowledge. If fragmented data can be collected through community co-construction to form a scaled dataset, it will create a chemical reaction of 1 + 1 > 2.
If we really want to build this web3-based knowledge base, the top priority is to build the community and enhance the user base to generate viral growth; even onboarding researchers during the cold start phase is secondary. This is different from most DeSci approaches, but I believe this method is more crypto native. Retail participation and holding tokens are motivated by contributing data to the organization through staking to earn incentives or staking income. The more valuable the contributed data, the more it is likely to be cited or associated, leading to more valuable data generating more external revenue and native incentives for the corresponding data organization. Thus, this mechanism incentivizes user participation while also promoting data quality.
However, in such a large system, there will inevitably be users contributing very little or just filling the ranks, but the generation of this garbage data does not affect the operation of the system, and these users will also be allowed to provide data, thus participating in staking and hoping to earn minimal community incentives.