Messari: The rise of PHDegens and Pump.Science

Author: Austin Freimuth, Messari Research Analyst; Translator: 0xjs@黄金财经

DeSci is gaining widespread attention. Just this month, Binance Labs invested in BIO Protocol, CZ and Vitalik Buterin attended a DeSci event in Thailand, and ResearchHub hosted its first SciCon conference. However, the most notable milestone was the breakout success of Pump.Science, whose memecoin RIF and URO saw their combined market cap surge to over $350 million on November 18.

Pump.Science was announced last month on Solana Breakpoint and aims to accelerate breakthroughs in longevity science through gamification. It leverages rapid liquidity generation on pump.fun to raise funds and introduces its own mechanism to gamify the R&D process. Traders are called “PHDegens” and speculate on the results of experiments involving different compounds. These experiments are represented by memecoins such as RIF (Rifampicin) and URO (Urolithin A).

A major challenge for scientists is that the process of obtaining funding for research and development is time-consuming, often at the expense of experiments. This problem is particularly acute in fields such as longevity research, where a lack of immediate profitability leads to underfunding and slow scientific progress. Through its novel approach, Pump.Science can reduce this funding timeline from months to hours.

Source: DeSci Manifesto

Pump.Science works as follows:

1. Someone submits an experimental idea and provides SOL to start the process.

2. A token is launched on pump.fun, and SOL is used to create initial liquidity and fund experiments because tokens are sold at market value milestones.

3. The experiment is divided into three stages: worms, flies, and mice. Testing was performed at third-party laboratories Ora Biomedical and Tracked Biotechnologies.

4. Video updates will be uploaded to the platform every hour. Once the market value of the token exceeds $10,000, the initial videos of Phase 1 will be deployed.

5. PHDegens trade tokens to speculate on whether each compound can successfully extend the life of the test subjects.

Currently, the experiments of RIF and URO are in the pilot stage. The platform provides video updates and data on survival rates, movement and other metrics to guide trading decisions. For compounds such as Urolithin A, which humans can take on their own without a prescription, Phase 4 will use wearable devices to collect data.

Source: Pump.Science X Account

Next month, the team will launch 10 to 20 new tokens to expand the scope of experiments. The ultimate goal is to develop a supplement store that sells over-the-counter products based on the most promising compounds. The tokens will provide partial rights to the intellectual property, and profits from supplement sales will benefit token holders through buybacks and destruction. The team also mentioned plans to integrate AI agents and is considering working with Daos.Fun to establish a scientific fund.

Though still in its early stages, Pump.Science is reimagining longevity R&D through gamification, sparking DeSci’s broader interest in the process.