What Problems Does DeSci Solve?

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Decentralized Science (DeSci) is an emerging movement that applies blockchain infrastructure, smart contracts, and decentralized governance to research funding, publishing, and intellectual property management. By leveraging networks such as Ethereum and governance models inspired by VitaDAO, DeSci aims to correct structural inefficiencies in the traditional scientific ecosystem.

Below is a structured analysis of the core problems DeSci addresses. 🔬

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Funding Concentration and Gatekeeping

Traditional research funding is centralized within government agencies, elite universities, and a small number of philanthropic foundations. Grant allocation is:

• Slow (review cycles often 6–18 months)
• Conservative (favoring established institutions)
• Biased toward incremental work

This creates barriers for independent researchers, interdisciplinary projects, and unconventional ideas.

How DeSci responds:

• On-chain crowdfunding and quadratic funding models
• Token-based incentive systems
• Community-driven capital allocation

Researchers can receive funding directly from a global network of supporters without institutional mediation.

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Paywalled Knowledge and Publisher Monopolies

Scientific publishing is dominated by large commercial entities such as Elsevier and Springer Nature. Core issues include:

• High subscription fees
• Expensive article processing charges (APCs)
• Restricted access to publicly funded research

This limits knowledge dissemination, especially in low-income regions.

How DeSci responds:

• Open-access repositories
• Token-curated registries
• Incentivized peer review systems

The objective is to align incentives toward openness rather than exclusivity.

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Misaligned Incentives and “Publish or Perish”

The current academic model rewards:

• Citation count
• Journal impact factor
• Institutional prestige

Rather than replication, data transparency, or long-term impact.

This contributes to:

• Irreproducible results
• Publication bias
• Short-termism

How DeSci responds:

• Transparent, timestamped research records on-chain
• Reputation systems tied to verified contributions
• Incentives for replication and negative results

Blockchain-based provenance can reduce fraud and improve reproducibility.

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Intellectual Property Fragmentation

Patents in biotech and pharmaceuticals often lead to:

• Siloed innovation
• Legal bottlenecks
• Underutilized discoveries

For example, therapeutic research can stall due to restrictive licensing agreements.

How DeSci responds:

• Decentralized IP-NFT models
• Fractional ownership of research outcomes
• Collective governance over licensing

Projects such as Molecule experiment with tokenizing research IP to enable shared ownership and faster commercialization.

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Lack of Transparency in Research Governance

Institutional decision-making is often opaque. Grant reviews, editorial decisions, and peer review processes lack verifiable audit trails.

How DeSci responds:

• On-chain governance (DAO voting)
• Transparent treasury management
• Immutable grant histories

Smart contracts automate funding disbursement based on predefined milestones.

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Global Accessibility Barriers

Researchers outside elite institutions face structural disadvantages:

• Limited grant eligibility
• Visa and geopolitical restrictions
• Institutional bias

How DeSci responds:

• Borderless participation via crypto infrastructure
• Pseudonymous contribution models
• Direct-to-community funding

This lowers institutional dependency and increases global participation.

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Summary Table

Problem	Traditional System	DeSci Approach
Funding bias	Centralized grants	Tokenized, community funding
Paywalls	Subscription journals	Open, decentralized repositories
Incentives	Impact metrics	On-chain reputation
IP silos	Patent monopolies	Shared IP ownership
Governance opacity	Closed committees	DAO voting

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Conclusion

DeSci does not merely digitize science — it restructures its economic and governance layer. By aligning incentives toward openness, transparency, and collective ownership, it seeks to correct entrenched inefficiencies in funding, publishing, and IP management.

Whether DeSci will fully replace traditional academic systems remains uncertain. However, it addresses concrete structural problems that have persisted for decades. ⚙️