The medical research industry is crucial for advancing healthcare and finding treatments for various diseases. However, it has long relied on the concept of intellectual property as a means of protecting and rewarding research efforts. While this system has been successful in the past, it has also led to problems such as high costs for drugs and patent abuse.
Introducing EticaProtocol
The Etica protocol seeks to address these issues by transforming the intellectual property model in medical research. It uses a blockchain-based system to create a more sustainable and equitable system that promotes focused and oriented research efforts, greater transparency and fairness in the decision-making process, and a more collaborative and open research environment.
Targeting Specific Diseases for More Effective Treatments.
One key aspect of the Etica protocol is the use of proposals, defined as a combination of content (represented by an IPFS hash) and the disease for which the proposal is intended. This ensures that each proposal is unique and can be identified by the hash resulting from its {IPFS hash, diseasehash} combination. The protocol also addresses the disease uniqueness issue by hashing the disease’s English name, preventing multiple entities from referencing the same disease.
The Etica protocol aims to promote focused and oriented research by using proposals and disease uniqueness. This is in contrast to the current system, which can often lead to duplication of efforts and a lack of direction in research. Instead, researchers can work towards more targeted and effective treatments by focusing on specific diseases and proposals.
Ensuring Fairness in Decision Making Process
The Etica protocol uses a staking system similar to Travis Moore’s brainpower system to implement a voting system. Users must stake ETI in exchange for Bosoms to vote or submit proposals. Staking ETI involves locking it up for 28 days and receiving Bosoms at a 1-to-1 ratio.
The Etica protocol is based on periods of 7 days, and each proposal belongs to a period with its own curation reward and editor reward for ETI. To finance the reward system, a new ETI will be issued based on 2.61% yearly inflation once the initial supply reaches 21 Million in 10 years. In The first 10 years, ETI can be mined as well as earned in research systems.
The use of a staking system and voting process allows for greater transparency and fairness in the decision-making process for funding research. It also gives the community a say in which proposals are deemed most promising and worthy of funding. This is in contrast to the current system, which can often be subject to biases and influences that may not align with the overall goals of the research community.
Balancing Privacy and Transparency
In order to maintain privacy during the voting period while still allowing for transparency in the results, the Etica protocol uses a two-step privacy voting system. First, users have 21 days to commit their votes and then 7 days to reveal them. After 28 days, proposals become claimable, and users can call a function to be rewarded with ETI or be slashed.
If a user votes for a winning proposal, they would receive ETI as a reward based on the weight of their vote and the period’s curation reward. If a user votes for a losing proposal, it would be slashed in proportion to its slashing ratio.
Rewarding Researchers for Their Contributions
The Etica protocol rewards researchers for their contributions to the research process and encourages them to share their findings early on. This helps to create a more collaborative and open research environment, in contrast to the current system where researchers may be hesitant to share their work for fear of losing their intellectual property rights. In addition, by rewarding researchers throughout the research process rather than just at the end when a patent is obtained, the Etica protocol aims to create a more sustainable and equitable system for funding research.
Empowering Individuals in the Medical Research Process
Etica also allows individuals to support medical research on specific diseases by voting with their Eticas. This helps to create a more collaborative and open research environment where individuals can actively participate in the research process rather than just waiting for results.
By gaining knowledge and expertise, individuals can make informed voting decisions and may even submit proposals themselves. Through this process, Etica aims to accelerate the search for cures and make them more widely available through open source rather than being protected by intellectual property.
A Look Toward the Future
The Etica protocol may potentially promote focused and oriented medical research while addressing the issues of the current system. In addition, fostering collaboration and transparency could lead to more effective and targeted treatments for various diseases. While the protocol is still in its early stages and more research is needed to assess its potential impact fully, it offers a promising alternative to medical research’s current intellectual property system.
A Final Note
Overall, the Etica protocol offers a unique approach to addressing the weaknesses of the intellectual property model in medical research. Using a blockchain protocol and a staking system rewards medical researchers throughout the research process while still maintaining incentives to share discoveries early and giving up intellectual property. It also ensures the uniqueness of diseases and implements a privacy-focused voting system. In addition, issuing new ETI and rewarding contributors provides a sustainable way to finance the reward system.
For more information you can check this presentation video: https://youtu.be/iswq70tmyzE
Website – https://www.eticaprotocol.org
