Detailed explanation of how projects in the BIO Protocol and DeSci fields innovate new paradigms of scientific research and development

Author: Bankless

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

On the eve of the release of BIO Protocol tokens, the token prices of the DeSci (decentralized science) ecosystem have soared.

As the boundaries between cutting-edge technologies such as DeSci and AI gradually blurred, this craze continued until the launch of BIO and was reflected in the tokens related to these technologies. As a key hub for DeSci's financing, the launch of BIO has brought hope to DeSci, spawned outside enthusiasm for this highly experimental field, and attracted more attention and capital to DeSci over time.

This article will provide an in-depth look at how the BIO Protocol works, the challenges it attempts to solve, and the DAOs operating under its umbrella. Then explore how other projects fill the DeSci narrative and provide additional tools or use cases to transform how science is collaborated and funded.

BIO Protocol

BIO Protocol is essentially a decentralized token management platform that supports and incubates specialized BioDAO. By bringing funding decisions, intellectual property ownership, and governance on-chain, BIO directly addresses several long-standing barriers in biotech:

• Helping early-stage projects escape the “valley of death” where insufficient funding often prevents promising ideas from being implemented
• Tokenize research results, promote open access and transparent collaboration, and resist data and intellectual property silos
• Replace opaque R&D with real-time on-chain funding flow and results tracking

To achieve these goals, BIO implements several core mechanisms:

Curation ​ ​

BIO holders lock their tokens (vBIO) to help determine which new BioDAOs are allowed to join the network. This process ensures that only the most promising or community-supported businesses join, as those who pledge support must stake BIO for a certain period. If approved, stakers can exclusively participate in BioDAO’s financing round.

Funding and Liquidity

After completing the curation phase, BioDAO opens a private pre-seed auction for those who lock in vBIO.

This allows early backers of DAOs and the BIO community to invest in early-stage scientific research on terms traditionally reserved for VCs. At the same time, BIO Protocol manages liquidity on behalf of these BioDAOs, eliminating the need to oversee secondary markets. BIO Vault pairs tokens (i.e. VITA/BIO or HAIR/BIO) with ETH or other assets to generate fees for the protocol while ensuring a stable trading pair. This arrangement allows BioDAO to focus on advancing research rather than busy market operations.

meta-governance

Since the BIO Vault holds a portion of each BioDAO token, BIO holders collectively gain influence within the broader DeSci ecosystem.

This meta-governance structure enables them to guide multiple BioDAO decisions, whether setting research priorities or emphasizing synergies between projects. In addition, by diversifying the Treasury's holdings, the agreement enhances its ability to invest in new projects and reinvest in existing projects, allowing for seamless coordination across an expanding range of scientific research areas.

provide benefits

To incentivize clear, measurable contributions to its network, BIO issues “bio/acc rewards” in the form of additional BIO tokens to BioDAOs that achieve key milestones. In addition to these incentives, BioDAO can tokenize its IP, from research data to patents. By issuing IP tokens, BioDAO can grant partial ownership of its research results, allowing more stakeholders to benefit from future scientific breakthroughs, while retaining control over key decisions and potentially benefiting from the use of its data.

In addition to direct incentives, the overall value of the network grows through token distribution and the liquidity owned by the protocol. Donations to the new BioDAO are exchanged for a small stake in its tokens, while liquidity pool fees flow back into the treasury. As BioDAO matures and produces tangible results, the total value of these assets will increase, reinforcing a virtuous cycle of financing, growth, and innovation.

BioDAO in BIO

Currently, there are eight BioDAOs active in the BIO network, each focusing on a specific research area.

• VitaDAO | $VITA

Launched in 2021, VitaDAO supports research into extending human lifespan. Funded by Pfizer Ventures and Balaji Srinivasan, it explores the biological mechanisms of aging, including neurodegenerative diseases.

• Quantum Biology DAO

Quantum Biology DAO studies how weak magnetic fields affect cells at the quantum level. It collaborates with the Institute of Quantum Biology to develop quantum microscopes that could open up new avenues for longevity research, drug discovery and more.

• HairDAO | HAIR

HairDAO unites patients, researchers, and funders to solve the under-resourced problem of hair loss.

• ValleyDAO | $GROW

ValleyDAO seeks synthetic biology solutions to combat climate change, such as engineering microorganisms to capture carbon dioxide or produce biodegradable materials.

• AthenaDAO | $ATH

AthenaDAO focuses on women’s health, filling a gap that traditional funding has overlooked. Through a decentralized community of patients, scientists, and advocates, it supports projects on reproductive health, hormonal imbalances, and other understudied topics in female biology.

• CryoDAO | $CRYO

CryoDAO directs funding toward cryopreservation research to improve organ and tissue storage, a potentially life-saving option.

• PsyDAO | $PSY

PsyDAO focuses on psychedelic research for mental health issues such as depression, addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder. It uses a decentralized funding model and AI-based auditing to accelerate the discovery of new compounds, while on-chain governance ensures transparency in resource allocation.

• CerebrumDAO | $NEURON

CerebrumDAO convenes the global community to prevent neurodegeneration and extend brain health. It studies diseases such as Alzheimer's, focusing on inflammation, metabolic issues, the blood-brain barrier and its effects.

Other DeSci projects

In addition to the BIO Protocol ecosystem, there are many interesting DeSci projects that bring new platforms or tools for scientific research discovery.

ResearchHub Foundation

Founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Patrick Joyce, the ResearchHub Foundation leverages RSC to create an open platform for publishing and reviewing science. Contributors earn RSC by publishing research, curating content, or contributing to discussions. The platform aims to create a “GitHub” for scientific research, aiming to simplify peer review, encourage open sharing and bring real-time accountability to scholarly publishing, all through token incentives. RSC holders can also vote on platform improvements and reward distribution.

yesnoerror

Yesnoerror is a decentralized platform that combines AI with community-driven supervision to improve the reliability of scientific research papers. Its AI engine continuously scans research for inaccuracies—whether in data, statistical analysis, or references—and flags potential issues for further review. Community members who verify or correct these errors will be awarded YNE tokens, creating an inherent incentive for thorough review and timely feedback.

Overall, YNE hopes to detect problems early to prevent erroneous conclusions, reduce the risk of poor policy decisions and wasted research, and develop an AI that can learn from its users to better detect problems across a range of different scientific fields.

pump.Science

Pump.science is a DeSci platform designed to identify and develop chemicals that can extend human health span. It hopes to gamify research by conducting low-cost tests on simple organisms (worms, flies) before using complex models (mice). This approach allows for the early identification of promising interventions, using cryptocurrency-based funding to propose or invest in new compounds. By live-streaming experiments, the protocol provides real-time data, allowing both researchers and speculators to track results and potentially adjust their support as research progresses.

Conclusion

BIO Protocol's token issuance puts the DeSci field in the spotlight, demonstrating how a new generation of on-chain initiatives can reshape research and development in biotechnology and other fields.

Outside of the BIO ecosystem, other DeSci projects demonstrate complementary strategies for enhancing scientific research through blockchain. From ResearchHub's open collaboration platform to yesnoerror's AI-powered paper audits and pump.science's gamified longevity experiments, these projects explore the intersection of science and crypto from different angles. Taken together, they point to a rapidly evolving DeSci landscape in which shared governance, financial coordination, and real-time data sharing may lead to new breakthroughs.

Whether solving funding bottlenecks, streamlining peer review, or discovering molecules that extend lifespan, DeSci's solutions have the audacious goal of empowering a broad, motivated community to discover and ultimately accelerate the world's ability to benefit from the next wave of scientific innovation. speed.

Related reading: BIO Protocol in-depth research report: the decentralized science (DeSci) platform fully supported by Binance