- The “Valley of Death” causes 80–90% of research efforts to fail before they can be tested on humans.
- The Web3 stack is being used by the Decentralized Science (DeSci) movement to develop a new scientific research paradigm.
As per the recent Binance Research report, there are many obstacles in the way of scientific research, especially when it comes to using translational research to turn fundamental findings into practical applications. The “Valley of Death” causes 80–90% of research efforts to fail before they can be tested on humans, and just 0.1% of drug candidates are authorized as treatments.
The majority of research fails in the “Valley of Death” due to misaligned incentives among academics, funding agencies, and industry. These issues include a lack of financing, decreased cooperation between scientists and clinicians, and low replicability and reproducibility of scientific discoveries.
The Web3 stack is being used by the Decentralized Science (DeSci) movement to develop a new scientific research paradigm that may address the aforementioned issues.
DeSci can resolve the primary coordination issue by using blockchains, smart contracts, and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). This gives incentives to see research through to the clinical phases by allowing various stakeholder groups to align their interests on capital formation.
Infrastructure, research, data services, and memes are the four main areas of innovation that we have discovered in the DeSci landscape. Infrastructure comprises subsectors that serve as the foundation for DeSci DAOs, such as funding platforms and DAO tooling.
Grassroot DeSci communities that organize events across the world and DAOs that formalize shared interests from many stakeholders are examples of research. Data management tools that provide robust data integrity and access restrictions for teamwork are examples of data services, as are publishing and peer review platforms that facilitate open access to scientific publications.
Memes may be used as investment vehicles for other DeSci initiatives or as a direct source of funding for scientific experiments. Although fundamental and translational research may already be supported by the current stack, clinical research—where products directly benefit patients—is not as well served by it.
In conclusion, decentralized science has already developed enough to influence current scientific research is being conducted. Addressing the “Valley of Death” in research is already a significant advancement, despite several gaps and difficulties in the present landscape.
We are only beginning to see decentralized science take front stage in today’s scientific practices. In order to guarantee that there is enough interest to see research through to the clinical phases, decentralized science may be able to bring stakeholders together from the very beginning.
There is currently the infrastructure in place to organize research in a decentralized manner. In order to improve cooperation across various scientific groups, aligned stakeholders may formalize their common interest in scientific research via DAOs, contribute finance, and carry out research where they can own the resultant IP. They can also securely exchange data while adhering to data protection regulations.
The current stack, however, is less suited for clinical research and more for fundamental and translational research. While the later phases of research need cooperation with centralized entities like regulatory authorities, pharmaceutical corporations, physical labs, etc., the earlier stages demand more trustless coordination.
