Decentralized Science (DeSci) at SynBioBeta 2025

Accelerating Scientific Development Using Crypto Networks

Title: Decentralized Science — Accelerating Scientific Development Using Crypto Networks

Context: Explores how DeSci uses blockchain/Web3 to fund, govern, and commoditize high-risk biotech, enabling parallel experiments, equitable rewards, and transparent contribution tracking. Bio.xyz prioritizes projects with ROI potential, rewarding scientists as “rock stars” (Sinka), inspired by examples like the Pineapple Fund’s medical funding.

Key Themes:

• Scientist Rewards: DeSci ensures scientists profit, addressing historical inequities (e.g., blue LED, penicillin) and aligning with the DAO mission (Sinka, Rockwell).
• ROI Focus: Bio.xyz supports projects with financial returns, like the Pineapple Fund’s funding for ME/CFS (Sinka).
• SEC Compliance: Governance tokens must pass the Howey Test to avoid securities classification.
• Getting Started: Bio.xyz’s launchpad and SLOPE’s educational model offer entry points.
• Fraud Prevention: Vetting reputable scientists and blockchain transparency reduce risks.
• Crypto’s Necessity: Permissionless funding opens science to non-accredited investors.
• Commoditization: Creates markets for biological assets (fungi, microbial knowledge, data).

Key Insights from New Information

• Pineapple Fund Example: The Pineapple Fund, an anonymous Bitcoin philanthropy initiative, donated $55M to charities, including the Open Medicine Foundation for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) research. This demonstrates crypto’s potential to fund under-resourced medical fields, inspiring DeSci’s ROI-driven model for projects like Long COVID Labs.
• Sinka’s ROI Focus: Bio.xyz explicitly supports DeSci projects with a path to ROI, ensuring financial returns for investors and scientists, aligning with the Pineapple Fund’s impact-driven funding.
• Scientist Empowerment: Sinka views scientists as “the most important creators” who should be “rock stars,” rewarded financially and socially. MycoDAO was partly founded to help scientists profit, addressing systemic underpayment (e.g., penicillin’s Mary Hunt, blue LED’s Shuji Nakamura).
• Relevance: These points tie to DeSci’s mission to commoditize science, reward creators, and attract diverse investors, reinforcing crypto’s permissionless and equitable nature.

Speaker Profiles and Contributions

1. Geoff Anders (Acting CEO, Quantum Bio)
   • Background: Leads Quantum Bio, studying quantum phenomena (e.g., photosynthesis, weak magnetic fields), supporting the Quantum Biology Institute’s quantum-state microscope.
   • DeSci Contribution: Raised $6.8M via a Dec 2024 governance token auction, enabling parallel experiments. Tokens grant governance, designed to pass the Howey Test.
   • Scientist Rewards: Tokens commoditize quantum biology data, potentially rewarding researchers with IP stakes, aligning with Sinka’s “rock star” vision.
   • ROI Focus: Microscope research could yield health applications, offering ROI for token holders.
   • SEC Compliance: Likely uses legal counsel to ensure utility-based tokens.
   • Fraud Prevention: Blockchain transparency ensures funds align with research.
   • Selling Science: Pitches health impacts and governance.
2. James Sinka (Chief Scientific Officer, Bio.xyz)
   • Background: Serial founder, DeSci Boston host, leading Bio.xyz to fund DeSci collectives (e.g., VitaDAO, Long COVID Labs).
   • DeSci Contribution: Incubates BioDAOs, providing $100K-$250K, mentorship, IP-NFT frameworks (e.g., Korolchuk’s VITA-FAST), and legal support for SEC compliance. Prioritizes ROI-driven projects, inspired by the Pineapple Fund, and champions scientists as “rock stars.”
   • Scientist Rewards: Ensures BioDAOs reward scientists via tokenized IP/data markets, addressing inequities (e.g., ME/CFS research funding).
   • ROI Focus: Supports projects like Long COVID Labs with clear financial returns (e.g., therapies).
   • SEC Compliance: Legal team ensures tokens are utility-based, avoiding securities status.
   • Getting Started: Launchpad supports scientists like Korolchuk.
   • Fraud Prevention: Vets reputable scientists and uses blockchain transparency.
   • Selling Science: Markets community-driven impact and IP value.
3. Morgan Rockwell (CEO & Founder, Mycosoft & MycoDAO; Boost VC Alum)
   • Background: Mycologist, crypto pioneer, Boost VC alum, with traditional/crypto financing experience. Interfaces with DoD discreetly, framing fungal biotech as innovation.
   • DeSci Contribution: Funds fungal biotech via MycoDAO, targeting a fungal biobank (60% of Earth’s biomass, ~50K named species, 5M undiscovered). Raised $400K in a token auction, doubling a denied SBIR grant, loyal to 70 token holders. Gamifies fungal discovery (Pokémon Go analogy), timestamps IP/data, and envisions an agentic DeSci system. MycoDAO aims to help scientists profit, citing penicillin’s Mary Hunt.
   • Scientist Rewards: Tokens reward fungal researchers with IP stakes, ensuring wealth stays with creators, aligning with Sinka’s vision.
   • ROI Focus: Biobank could yield biotech patents, offering ROI for token holders.
   • SEC Compliance: Likely uses legal counsel (e.g., Bio.xyz’s model) for utility-based tokens.
   • Fraud Prevention: Blockchain timestamping and governance ensure funds support biobank.
   • Selling Science: Gamification engages diverse communities.
4. Chris Raggio (Investor, Federov; Quantum Biology DAO)
   • Background: Investor bridging crypto and biotech, co-founded Quantum Biology DAO, favoring grassroots funding. Cites blue LED inventor (Shuji Nakamura) for creator rewards.
   • DeSci Contribution: Funds quantum biology via a DAO, using low-friction tokens, likely supporting Anders’ microscope.
   • Scientist Rewards: Tokens ensure researchers retain wealth, addressing corporate capture.
   • ROI Focus: Quantum biology data could yield health applications, offering ROI.
   • SEC Compliance: Likely structures tokens to emphasize governance.
   • Fraud Prevention: Transparent token flows reduce misuse risks.
   • Selling Science: Pitches quantum biology as a high-impact frontier.
5. Juliette Humer (Researcher, SLOPE)
   • Background: Researcher with experience at SLOPE, a microbiology teaching lab merging art, play, and science, and at Climax Foods as a Senior Research Associate in Microbiology. No confirmed link to founding Muse Bio.
   • DeSci Contribution: Wants to form a research group that can harvest stem cells from menstrual blood.
6. Rohan Dixit (Founder, Long COVID Labs)
   • Background: Healthcare entrepreneur, former neuroscientist, cured his own Long COVID, founding Long COVID Labs.
   • DeSci Contribution: Leads a DAO raising $500,000+ in a token auction. Patients share health data, earning $COVID tokens for trials/open-source studies. Funds adaptive clinical trials, first treatment launched November 2024. Parallels Pineapple Fund’s ME/CFS funding.
   • Scientist Rewards: Tokens reward researchers and patients, ensuring equitable value distribution.
   • ROI Focus: Therapies could yield financial returns, similar to Pineapple Fund’s impact.
   • SEC Compliance: Bio.xyz’s legal team likely ensured $COVID tokens are utility-based.
   • Fraud Prevention: Bio.xyz’s vetting and blockchain transparency ensure ethical fund use.
   • Selling Science: Uses his recovery story to pitch patient-driven research.

VC Recommendation for Rockwell: Draper Associates

• Why They Fit:
  • Dual Expertise: Tim Draper’s firm invests in traditional tech (Tesla) and crypto (Coinbase), aligning with Rockwell’s Boost VC experience.
  • Crypto Fluency: Understands token auctions ($400K for Mycosoft), supporting ROI-driven and compliant tokenomics.
  • Grassroots Alignment: Backs transformative startups, resonating with Rockwell’s scientist reward mission.
  • DoD Discretion: Defense-adjacent investments (SpaceX) enable framing fungal biotech as ecological innovation.
• Engagement Strategy:
  • Contact: Use draper.vc or Adam Draper’s Substack (adamdraper.vc) via Rockwell’s Boost VC network.
  • Pitch: Highlight biobank’s potential, gamification, and scientist rewards, noting $400K auction and SEC-compliant tokens. Use “decentralized innovation” for DoD.
• Alternatives: Pantera Capital (crypto-focused, less DoD discretion), Andreessen Horowitz (biotech-crypto crossover, high-profile crypto focus).

Key Discussion Points to Anticipate

• Scientist Rewards: Sinka’s “rock star” vision and MycoDAO’s profit mission ensure scientists benefit, inspired by Pineapple Fund and addressing inequities (blue LED, penicillin).
• ROI Focus: Bio.xyz’s support for ROI-driven projects (e.g., Long COVID Labs, Korolchuk’s IP-NFT) aligns with Pineapple Fund’s medical funding.
• SEC Compliance: Structuring tokens to pass the Howey Test (Bio.xyz’s legal team) ensures regulatory viability.
• Getting Started: Bio.xyz’s launchpad and SLOPE’s educational model provide entry points.
• Fraud Prevention: Vetting reputable scientists and blockchain transparency reduce risks.
• Crypto’s Necessity: Permissionless funding enables diverse investors (e.g., “12-year-olds with Solana”).

More Background

• Background Research:
  • Check Bio.xyz’s ROI-driven projects like Korolchuk’s VITA-FAST (bio.xyz, X posts).
  • Update on Long COVID Labs’ November 2024 treatment and $COVID tokens (longcovidlabs.org, X).
  • Explore Mycosoft’s $400K auction and scientist reward model (Mycosoft’s site, X).
  • Clarify Humer’s SLOPE role and DeSci potential (mariogabiati.com/lab, X posts).
• Note-Taking Structure:
  • Scientist Rewards: Sinka’s “rock star” vision, MycoDAO’s profit mission, Pineapple Fund example.
  • ROI Focus: Bio.xyz’s project selection, Long COVID Labs’ therapies.
  • SEC Compliance: Howey Test, Bio.xyz’s legal support.
  • Getting Started: Bio.xyz’s launchpad, SLOPE’s education model.
  • Fraud Prevention: Vetting, blockchain transparency.
• Questions to Ask:
  • General: “How does DeSci ensure scientists are rewarded like rock stars?”
  • Sinka: “How does Bio.xyz identify ROI-driven projects like the Pineapple Fund’s ME/CFS funding?”
  • Dixit: “How do $COVID tokens reward Long COVID researchers and patients?”
  • Rockwell: “How does MycoDAO help fungal scientists profit financially?”
  • Anders: “How do Quantum Bio’s tokens reward researchers with IP stakes?”
  • Humer: “Could SLOPE tokenize microbiology to reward educators and scientists?”

Final Notes

• Sinka’s “rock star” vision, MycoDAO’s profit mission, and the Pineapple Fund example underscore DeSci’s focus on rewarding scientists, tying to commoditization and equitable rewards.
• Humer’s SLOPE experience suggests microbiology education/research as a DeSci entry point, though her session role needs clarification.
• Draper Associates remains the ideal VC for Rockwell, supporting his ROI-driven, compliant biotech pitch and DoD discretion.
• If you need specific prep (e.g., analyzing Pineapple Fund’s impact, drafting a Draper pitch, or checking X for SLOPE updates), let me know, and I’ll refine further.