Author: Bankless; Compiler: Felix, PANews
On the eve of the BIO Protocol token issuance, the price of tokens in the DeSci (decentralized science) ecosystem 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 financing, the launch of BIO brought hope to DeSci, spawned enthusiasm for this highly experimental field, and attracted more attention and capital to DeSci over time.
This article will take a deep look at how BIO Protocol works, the challenges it tries to solve, and the DAOs operating under its umbrella. Then explore how other projects can fill in the DeSci narrative and provide additional tools or use cases to transform scientific collaboration and funding.
BIO Protocol is essentially a decentralized, token management platform that supports and incubates specialized BioDAOs. By bringing funding decisions, intellectual property ownership, and governance on-chain, BIO directly addresses several long-standing obstacles in the biotech space:
Help early-stage projects escape the “valley of death” where insufficient funding often prevents promising ideas from coming to fruition
Tokenize research results to promote open access and transparent collaboration, and combat data and intellectual property silos
Replace opaque R&D with real-time, on-chain funding flows and results tracking
To achieve these goals, BIO implements several core mechanisms:
Curation
BIO holders lock up 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-backed businesses join, as those who pledge their support must stake BIO for a certain period of time. If approved, stakers have exclusive access to BioDAO’s funding rounds.
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 the DAO and the BIO community to invest in early-stage scientific research on terms traditionally reserved for VCs. At the same time, the BIO Protocol manages liquidity on behalf of these BioDAOs, eliminating the need to oversee secondary markets. The BIO Treasury pairs tokens (i.e. VITA/BIO or HAIR/BIO) with ETH or other assets, generating fees for the protocol while ensuring stable trading pairs. This arrangement allows BioDAOs to focus on advancing research rather than on market operations.
Meta-Governance
Because the BIO Treasury holds a portion of each BioDAO token, BIO holders collectively gain influence in the broader DeSci ecosystem.
This meta-governance structure enables them to guide multiple BioDAO decisions, whether it’s determining research priorities or highlighting synergies between projects. Additionally, by diversifying the assets held in the treasury, the protocol increases its ability to invest in new projects and reinvest in existing ones, enabling seamless coordination across the expanding scientific research landscape.
Providing Yields
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, BioDAOs can tokenize their IP, from research data to patents. By issuing IP tokens, BioDAOs can grant partial ownership of their research outputs, allowing more stakeholders to benefit from future scientific breakthroughs, while retaining control over key decisions and potentially earning revenue from the use of their data.
In addition to direct incentives, the overall value of the network grows through token distribution and protocol-owned liquidity. Grants to new BioDAOs are exchanged for a small stake in their tokens, while liquidity pool fees flow back into the treasury. As BioDAOs mature and produce tangible results, the total value of these assets will increase, reinforcing a virtuous cycle of financing, growth, and innovation.
Currently, there are eight BioDAOs active in the BIO network, each focusing on a specific area of research.
VitaDAO | $VITA
Launched in 2021, VitaDAO supports research into extending human lifespan. Funded by Pfizer Ventures and Balaji Srinivasan, it explores biological mechanisms of aging, including neurodegenerative diseases.
Quantum Biology DAO
Quantum Biology DAO studies how weak magnetic fields affect cells at the quantum level. Partnering with the Institute for Quantum Biology, it aims to develop quantum microscopy to open new avenues for longevity research, drug discovery, and more.
HairDAO | HAIR
HairDAO unites patients, researchers, and funders to address the under-resourced problem of hair loss.
ValleyDAO | $GROW
ValleyDAO seeks synthetic biology solutions to climate change, such as engineering microbes to capture carbon dioxide or produce biodegradable materials.
AthenaDAO | $ATH
AthenaDAO is focused on women’s health, filling a gap that traditional funding has neglected. Through a decentralized community of patients, scientists, and advocates, it supports projects in reproductive health, hormonal disorders, and other under-researched 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 PTSD. 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 a global community to prevent neurodegeneration and prolong brain health. It studies diseases such as Alzheimer's, focusing on inflammation, metabolic issues, the blood-brain barrier, and their impact.
In addition to the BIO Protocol ecosystem, there are many interesting DeSci projects that bring new platforms or tools to scientific research discoveries.
ResearchHub Foundation
The ResearchHub Foundation was founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Patrick Joyce, using RSC to create an open platform for publishing and reviewing science. Contributors earn RSC by publishing research, curating content, or facilitating discussions. The platform aims to build 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 constantly scans for inaccuracies in research (whether in data, statistical analysis, or references) and flags potential issues for further review. Community members who verify or correct these errors will earn YNE tokens, creating an intrinsic incentive for thorough review and timely feedback.
Overall, YNE hopes to detect problems early to prevent misconceptions, reduce the risk of inappropriate policy decisions and wasteful research, and develop an AI that learns from users to better detect problems in a range of different scientific fields.
pump.Science
Pump.science is a DeSci platform that aims to identify and develop chemicals that can extend human healthy lifespan. It hopes to gamify research by conducting low-cost tests on simple organisms (worms, flies) before using complex models (mice). This approach can identify promising interventions as early as possible, using cryptocurrency-based funds to propose or invest in new compounds. By livestreaming experiments, the protocol provides real-time data, allowing researchers and speculators alike to track results and potentially adjust their support as research progresses.
BIO Protocol’s token offering has put the DeSci space in the spotlight, demonstrating how a new generation of on-chain initiatives can reshape R&D in biotech and beyond.
Outside 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-based paper audits and pump.science’s gamified longevity trials, these projects explore the intersection of science and crypto from different perspectives. Taken together, they point to a rapidly evolving DeSci landscape where shared governance, financial coordination, and real-time data sharing could lead to new breakthroughs.
Whether it's 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 pursue discovery, ultimately accelerating the speed at which the world benefits from the next wave of scientific innovation.
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