Time to Digitize Science…Finally

Scientists like to tinker–low stakes playing to test out possibilities.

Tinkering has sparked some of the world’s greatest inventions. Ben Franklin tinkered with a kite–leading us to discover electricity. The Wright brothers tinkered with bicycles and wings–leading us to airplanes. Marie Curie tinkered with fundamental elements–leading us to cancer cures using polonium and radium.

It’s hard to tinker in science these days, though.

Once someone is motivated in the first place, tinkering requires money and time. Earlier generations have discovered the accessible fruits, so now the higher (scientific) fruits on the tree require a sophisticated laboratory, database storage fees, and staff salaries.

How to make it easier for scientists to tinker, though?

Merito can enable tinkering.

Merito removes so many of the hassles for scientists to commercialize their research. Scientists can avoid the legal and relationship-building hassles usually needed to get funding to develop their therapy.

Time: Unlocked

Merito offers an easy template to create a digital research agreement. Just like Airbnb offers a platform to quickly find lodging, Merito offers a platform to quickly get capital from a global investor pool. Thanks to Airbnb, tourists don’t have to walk around a city for who might be able to offer lodging — and then sit down and take days to negotiate the lodging terms and payment methods while a university manager mediates the negotiations. That’s the cumbersome way smart scientists currently have to negotiate cumbersome research agreements offline with their university tech transfer offices lording over the process.

Less Legal Headaches: While a typical IP licensing deal takes 4–9 months, a deal on Merito can take as little as 3 weeks. Merito reduces legal complexity as it standardizes the terms of technology transfers. Merito can lessen the workload for university tech transfer offices — for both scientists as well as research partners. Further, Merito offer proof-of-invention, limiting legal disputes and legal fees later on.

Data Access: While academic data is often difficult to access, blockchain-stored academic data is easy to access. Data sharing becomes possible, providing researchers with even broader datasets — and therefore more potential to make breakthrough discoveries. Data becomes interoperable and open source. Scientific discoveries have clear provenance, preventing time-consuming arguments about science’s origin.

More time, more discoveries, more therapies, and more lifetime for patients.

Isn’t it time to try Merito?