DeSci, short for Decentralized Science, is a segment of the blockchain ecosystem aimed at fostering the decentralization of scientific research.
The core premise of DeSci is that the current scientific research system is “broken.” Indeed, at present, to ensure a research paper is validated, it must be reviewed by other researchers (a process known as “peer review”). The problem? These researchers do this for free and must then pay a fortune to be featured in publications like Nature or Elsevier. As if that weren’t enough, this step is mandatory, and often the public who might be interested in these studies also ends up paying to access them. This is where DeSci comes in! Its goal? To use blockchain to compensate reviewers while ensuring that science remains open access.
DeSci also aims to be a solution to the funding crisis currently affecting scientific research, through the implementation of DAOs that can help fund research projects of specific interest to them.
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Finally, DeSci allows a patent or a scientific discovery to be transformed into a funding tool through IP-NFTs. For example, if research results in a formula for a drug, it will be “NFTized.” Once commercialized thanks to the money raised by the sale of the NFTs, the holders will receive a share of the revenue proportional to the number of NFTs they own.
DeSci envisions science that is accessible to everyone and for everyone, for the sake of the human species. It remains to be seen whether it will succeed.