What are bioDAOs?
bioDAO /ˈbaɪ.oʊˌdiː.eɪˈoʊ/
Noun
a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) harnessing blockchain technology and the collective efforts of a diverse group of stakeholders to expedite the transparent, secure, and equitable development and distribution of biotech research and products.
BioDAOs offer a novel way to fund, coordinate and commercialize scientific research, creating shared IP ownership between patients and scientists worldwide.
Unlike traditional science ("TradSci"), where closed-source and exclusive centralized groups and institutions control access to the research and funding needed to develop and distribute scientific treatments, DeSci opens up scientific funding and R&D data ownership to a more diverse array of participants, aligning incentives between patients and scientists and the IP that is collectively funded and developed.
Utilizing blockchain tools and frameworks—most notably, DAOs—decentralized science enables key decisions around the funding, development, and eventual sale of scientific IP via open, transparent, trustless, and collaborative processes that incentivize and reward participation.
How bioDAOs are born
Unlike centralized pharma companies and institutions which require a large amount of capital, often at the behest of gatekeepers, bioDAOs can be formed by anyone with a clear vision and purpose. We won’t get too deep into the technical weeds, but before forming a DAO, you’ll want to think about things like:
- Ownership structure - how does participation equate to ownership?
- Tokenomics - how will tokens be priced, earned, acquired, or transferred?
- Treasury funding - how will the DAO source operating funds and liquidity?
- Governance structure - how will voting work and, as a result, how the DAO will function
- Tooling - what blockchain will host the DAO, and what onchain tooling will it utilize for peer review, data storage, etc?
While some of these terminologies might seem foreign to some, they’re ultimately a repeatable framework and set of rules that require far less knowledge (and funding) than traditional centralized structures with high barriers to entry.
BIO makes forming bioDAOs and sourcing liquidity more accessible and engaging via our launchpad, which helps bioDAOs crowdfund treasuries by launching tokens to their communities via a unique auction process.
While all DAOs have somewhat similar design parameters, bioDAOs have their specialized developmental nuances, geared towards accelerating science — they all address a problem that’s been unsolvable given a lack of incentive mechanisms for widespread collaboration in traditional biotech.
How bioDAOs work
Many DAOs function through a flywheel approach where governance unlocks funding of a specific goal or product, with proceeds flowing back to a treasury to fund future projects. BioDAOs are no different; they revolve around vetting and funding scientific research projects, which generate and monetize scientific IP.
BioDAOs generally can monetize through various avenues, including:
- selling IP-NFTs or IP-Tokens (IPTs) to the public - these are tokenized versions of scientific intellectual property rights; proceeds from such sales can be accrued by the bioDAO
- IP licensing fees - a bioDAO can sub-license its patented research and R&D data to biotechnology companies and have such fees flow back to the bioDAO
- Spin-outs - companies can be created based on the bioDAO's IP, and revenue from that company can flow back to the bioDAO
- Direct-to-consumer products - a bioDAO can create in-house a consumer-facing health product or service that generates revenue which is accrued by the DAO.
Let’s use VitaDAO, the first bioDAO incubated by Molecule that helps fund early-stage longevity research and drug development, as an example of how it begins. VitaDAO’s initial goals were to:
- Align on a focal point and common ground (a Schelling point) via a community-building exercise to enable researchers and the public to participate in discourse at the intersection of longevity science and web3.
- Fund cutting-edge, high-impact research out of academia and help to translate this research into effective medicines.
- Create a sustainable organization as a function of its commercial efforts, with proceeds from these efforts providing a continuous funding mechanism for longevity science.
To achieve the third goal, VitaDAO (and any bioDAO, regardless of its use case) must be able to turn its funding efforts into revenue. This is where the bioDAO flywheel comes into play, and more specifically, IP-NFTs, which enables bioDAOs to own, license, and trade in the IP generated from the projects they support.
A recent example is VDP-103, an IP-NFT funded by VitaDAO in May of 2023 to research a mutation-specific treatment for aging and longevity in collaboration with ARTAN, a longevity-focused biotechnology company.
- Following the initial proposal, funding for Artan Bio was successfully approved by $VITA token holders a month later.
- In January 2024, VitaDAO members voted to tokenize the Artan Bio IP-NFT.
- Four months later, the VITARNA IPT, a tokenized version of the initial IP-NFT, was developed.
- This final step led to VITAARNA’s public sale in June of 2024, raising $300K for the research while offering governance rights to VitaDAO members.
How to join a bioDAO
Interested in joining a bioDAO and getting the opportunity to help fund life-changing treatments like VITARNA? The good news is that getting involved with a bioDAO is often as simple as joining its Discord.
Whether it’s longevity (VitaDAO), women’s health (AthenaDAO), psychedelic science (PsyDAO), synthetic biology (ValleyDAO), solving hair loss (HairDAO), cryopreservation (CryoDAO), brain health (CerebrumDAO), or medical breakthroughs (SynapseDAO), there’s plenty of projects to start contributing to immediately.
If you have a new vision for a bioDAO that can help commercialize a crucial scientific cause through the power of onchain technology, you can simply apply here. No gates, keepers, or red tape required.
