Molecule Ecosystem, May 2023
Request for BioDAOs | Berlin DeSci Meetup | DeSci at SynBioBeta | LabDAO's Raise | Forbes Feature and our Molecule of the Month!
BioDAOs Wanted - bio.xyz cohort 2 intake
bio.xyz is currently seeking applications for the second cohort of the BioDAO accelerator. The program officially kicks off this fall, with applications closing on August 15th. bio.xyz is particularly interested in DAOs focusing on ADHD & Nootropics, Sleep, Nutrition, Oncology, Neurology, and tech-focused areas like Decentralized Clinical Trials & AI/ML Drug Discovery. You can find more information and inspiration in this blog post.
Forbes coverage
We're pleased to share our recent feature in Forbes where we discussed tackling the entrenched problems within the healthcare industry. We believe that current healthcare incentives are skewed, with profit often taking precedence over effective patient care and curing diseases. We see these issues as symptoms of a larger issue, namely, the centralization of intellectual property and funding. You can read the full article here.
DeSci at SynBioBeta
Our very own Paul Kohlhaas participated in a panel discussion at SynBioBeta, the world's largest synthetic biology conference. The panel addressed how blockchain and DAOs can unite bioeconomy infrastructure and Paul also talked about how DeSci is quickly becoming a global force empowering early democratic R&D on an unseen scale. DeSci has helped catalyze organizations like ValleyDAO and AthenaDAO (who were also present) into existence, enabling a decentralised research economy for SynBio and Women’s Health research respectively.
Laura Minquini from AthenaDAO and Albert Anis from ValleyDAO did a breakout session discussing how innovative, web3-based alternative funding models for science, such as retroactive public goods funding, quadratic funding, DAO governance, and tokenized incentives, could provide a more equitable, decentralized, and community-driven approach to research funding, potentially revolutionizing traditional models by overcoming biases and fostering innovation and diversity. Watch the highlights video from SynBioBeta here and check out their interviews with leading researchers and entrepreneurs here.
We're proud to have participated and sponsored this event, and excited about Paul’s Global Synthetic Biology award!
LabDAO’s Raise
Congratulations to LabDAO! Not only did they raise $3,6m, but they also launched their new product, PLEX. We're looking forward to seeing the DeSci stack and open-source drug discovery evolve, especially with the PLEX rollout, and how it will bring scientists into the creator economy. Read more about their funding round and the PLEX launch here.
AthenaDAO and BeakerDAO News
AthenaDAO has been actively hosting breakfasts and building their global community. They've also recently launched a book club focused on exploring insightful books on women's health, and have released part 3 and 4 of their Egg Freezing Guide, a valuable resource for those interested in this aspect of women's health. You can find more information and updates here.
BeakerDAO has announced their support for CerebrumDAO, a global impact investment collective that seeks to reimagine funding for brain longevity and neurological disorder solutions. You can find more details here.
💊 Molecule of the Month
The US recently approved the first non-hormonal drug that will target menopause-related hot flushes. The drug, fezolinetant, owes its inception to the work done by Professor Naomi Rance over 30 years ago when she discovered that infundibular neurons in the hypothalamus nearly doubled in size in post-menopausal women. Rance continued her research, eventually identifying the neurokinin-B protein receptor as a crucial factor in hot flushes in 2013.
Intrigued by Rance’s findings, Waljit Dhillo at Imperial College London conducted clinical trials and successfully developed a drug that blocks the neurokinin-3 protein. Fezolinetant has garnered praise for its quick and effective results in comparison to the hormonal alternatives on the market. The drug represents a new hope for menopausal women who have been unable to take hormone medications due to complications such as a history of breast or ovarian cancer, blood clots, and high blood pressure, as well as those who prefer non-hormonal therapies.
“I was thrilled to learn about the FDA approval, in part because it illustrates how basic science research can lead to clinical applications.” - Dr Naomi Rance
This milestone marks a shift in understanding menopause, reframing it not only as a hormonal issue but also as a brain issue. We extend our congratulations to Dr Rance, Dhillo, and the team involved.
While the term ‘women’ has been used, it is important to note that not all people who identify as women go through menopause, and not all people who go through menopause identify as women.
Upcoming Events
Berlin DeSci Meetup - June 7th
Our Berlin DeSci Meetup is taking place on June 7th. This meetup will be an opportunity to explore decentralized science’s potential and to connect with the researchers and innovators driving change in the DeSci space. You can find more details and register for this meetup as well as our future Berlin meetups here.
(Note: This event will repeat every 2 - 3 months, so feel free to RSVP for the single event on the 7th or the entire series♻️). In September we have our larger desci.berlin unconference and DeSci hackathon. More on that here.
To discover DeSci events in your city, visit desci.global. If you're planning your own DeSci meetup, conference, or side-event, submit your event here to have it featured!
VDP-100
If you've made it this far, we have something special to share. VitaDAO's VDP-100 has passed with 100% of the votes in favor and a quorum of 4.5 million out of 1.2 million votes reached. To learn more about VDP-100, please read the Discourse proposal here, and you can view the vote on Snapshot here. Stay tuned for further details in the coming weeks!
Molecule is hiring!
We are currently hiring for the following priority positions, and more to come:
Office (and Vibe) Manager - Berlin based
UI Designer - Remote / Ideally Berlin based
To learn more about these positions, visit our careers page here.
New hires receive all required equipment, a competitive compensation package, and a pfp NFT of their choice, in line with our policy. Should you wish to apply, discuss any of the positions or refer someone, please feel free to reach out to Ezanne at ezanne@molecule.to or on our Discord at Ezanne#0386.
Thanks for Reading!
If you enjoyed this read, subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated as the ecosystem grows. Please reach out to us with any questions or ideas, visit our website, or join our Discord to interact directly with our team. We’re really looking forward to joining forces with our community to create a world where patients directly fund researchers developing the next therapeutic breakthrough they need and building an open, inclusive, and collaborative ecosystem.
As we continue to work towards a different era of drug discovery, our focus for this year is to incubate and launch more BioDAOs, fund more IP-NFTs, fractionalize our first IP-NFT, and continue to connect web3 to the real world - Let’s build!